Yesterday afternoon, Mecklenburg County released the ransom note they received after their computer systems were hacked by a malicious worm after an employee clicked on a suspicious link in an email.
The following is the letter that Mecklenburg County received from the hackers (including spelling errors):
All your files have been encrypted due to a security problemwith your PC. If you want to restore them, write us to the email support: [redacted] or [redacted] write this ID in the title of your message
In case of no answer in 24 hours write us to these e-mails support: [redacted] or [redacted]
You have to pay for decryption in Bitcoins. The price dependson how fast you write to us. After payment we will send you thedecryption tool that will decrypt all your files.
Free decryption as guarantee
Before paying you can send us up to 3 files for freedecryption. The total size of files must be less than 10Mb (nonarchives), and files should not contain valuable information.
(databases, backups, large excel sheets, etc.)
How to obtain Bitcoins
The easiest way to buy bitcoins is LocalBitcoins site. Youhave to register, click ‘Buy bitcoins’, and select the seller bypayment method and price.
https://localbitcoins.com/buy_bitcoins
Also you can find other places to buy Bitcoins and beginnersguide here:
http://www.coindesk.com/information/how-can-i-buy-bitcoints/
Attention!
Do not rename encrypted files.
Do not try to decrypt your data using third party software, it may cause permanent data loss.
Decryption of your files with the help of third parties maycause increased price (the add their fee to our) or you can becomea victim of a scam.
{{IDENTIFIER}}
Your ID: [redacted]
After working with a 3rd party tech firm, the county determined that their backup file were all safe and that they would move forward with rebuilding their system internally instead of paying the ransom.
“I am confident that our backup data is secure and we have the resources to fix this situation ourselves,” said Mecklenburg County Manager Dena R. Diorio. “It will take time, but with patience and hard work, all of our systems will be back up and running as soon as possible.”
The county will be prioritizing the rebuilding of their affected systems, with those affecting Health and Human Services, the Court system and Land Use and Environmental Services given first priority.
All County offices continue to operate with normal hours and have implemented alternative processes where necessary.
The county is asking customers to call county departments ahead of time to check on their services.