SFMTA 'Never Considered' Paying Ransom to Hackers

It’s never a good sign when your transit agency’s work terminals start saying, “You Hacked,ALL Data Encrypted,Contact For Key.” And indeed news surfaced this weekend that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s computer network had been infected with ransomware, with hackers demanding 100 bitcoins (about $73,100) to decrypt locked files.

The attack knocked out service at some fare machines, prompting the city’s Muni to let people to ride for free. About 900 agency computers fell victim to the hack, the SFMTA said Monday evening, though systems controlling operations, safety, and customer payment were not affected. The malicious person or people behind the exploit did not penetrate the agency’s firewalls; some speculate an employee downloaded an infected torrent or fell for an email-phishing scheme.