Ryuk has been one of the most aggressive forms of ransomware since it appeared in 2018, and has collected six-figure payments from several local governments.

A new report by the consulting firm Deloitte finds that state and local governments continue to lack the resources and workforces to defend against ransomware.

Threat actors that target IT organizations like local governments and school districts have elevated their tactics, according to a new report from CrowdStrike.

An analysis of an infected file points to the same malware that has plagued dozens of other municipal governments over the past year.

Officials said the attack, which involved the Ryuk malware, did not result in any data loss.

New Bedford, Mass., initially tried negotiating with the hackers behind the Ryuk virus, but ended up fixing its systems itself after a counteroffer was rejected.

An executive at the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said a recent spike of incidents points to increased activity by a hacker group it calls Wizard Spider.

Between April and June, the average payment from government victims was $338,700, compared to $36,295 for all victims, according to cybersecurity firm Coveware.

Since the problem was detected over the weekend, individual courts' networks now may be slowed, but functional, as state and federal authorities investigate.

The malware that hit Riviera Beach has not been identified, but a cybersecurity researcher tells StateScoop the attack resembles incidents involving the Ryuk virus.