LEWISTON, Minn. – Cyber-criminals hacked into the City of Lewiston’s computer network, blocked access, and demanded $60,000 in ransom to unlock it. Unable to conduct business without the network, the city paid. This was in July. The city administrator, Bobby Falcon, confirmed details of the extortion with Winona Post editor Chris Rogers two months later. It made the Post front page. Falcon said the hack closed off the city’s ability to operate. There was no access to the city accounting software. Utility bills couldn’t go out. What to do? Falcon turned to the League of Minnesota Cities, to which Lewiston belongs. The League immediately assigned a lawyer and tech expert to the problem. The conclusion: There seemed little choice but to pay. The good news: The League had a trust fund to cover the ransom. More good news: There was no evidence that the thieves sold the data to third-parties that could jeopardize information on individuals. They just held it for ransom. Meanwhile, the city had located some of its data and began rebuilding files. Then a galling development: The thieves asked for a second ransom payment of $120,000. This time the city refused. Tech experts already had pieced together the city accounting, payroll and utility billing systems. In the process, they also discovered a backup of other parts of the ransomed data in an unintended location on its server. The city was back in business.
