Wildwood is taking steps to guard against ransomware attacks that have plagued at least three other Florida communities, city commissioners were told at a meeting Monday.
In the attacks on municipal computer systems, intruders close access to records by encrypting them and restore access only if a ransom is paid.
Paul Ketz, Wildwood’s information technology manager, said the city has a subscription service with a security provider that continually monitors the system for abnormalities. The city also can block any cyber traffic outside of the United States and Canada to prevent foreign intrusions.
“Imagine coming to work one day and all of your files are gone,” said City Manager Jason McHugh, adding that the potential problem is “on our radar.”
McHugh said next year’s city budget will include money to hire an outside consultant to provide even more scrutiny of possible weaknesses in the computer system.
Lake City recently paid a ransom of $460,000 to a hacker so its 100 years of files would be released. While phones and email now work, some files have not been recovered, according to a New York Times report.
Riviera Beach and Key Biscayne suffered similar attacks as did Atlanta, Dallas and Baltimore.
The hackers demand payment in Bit Coin, a currency traded online that cannot be traced.
In other business, commissioners heard the first reading of an ordinance to annex about 770 acres into Wildwood near the intersection of county roads 470 and 501, south of the Florida Turnpike and several miles east of the current Villages Southern Oaks development. The annexation petition was presented by the Villages Land Co., the Southern Oaks developer.
