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Inside Atlanta's Ransomware Crisis: A Public Official's Standoff
Dec 30, 2024
Join us as we delve into the gripping story of Fulton County Chairman Rob Pitts facing down a notorious ransomware attack. Learn about the threats, decisions, and consequences that shaped a major cyber crisis impacting the community. Can it happen again? Find out! #RansomwareAttack #CyberSecurity #FultonCounty #PublicSafety #TechCrime #RansomwareAwareness #CyberThreats #FBI #LockBit #DataProtection
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[Music]
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2024 could go down as the worst year yet
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for ransomware attacks hackers gain
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access to a computer server lock up all
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the files and then demand payment to get
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the victims back online well in
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tonight's eye on America Usher Kari has
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the inside story of how a public
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official in Atlanta stared down one of
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the world's most destructive cyber
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criminals this incident has been
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reported to law enforcement and is under
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active investigation in Georgia last
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January Fulton County chairman Rob pittz
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found himself in a showdown staring at
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criminals he couldn't see Fulton County
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was under a ransomware attack so phones
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courts everything was down everything
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was shut down things that you take for
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granted going to the library to check
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out a book couldn't do it getting a
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marriage license checking on your taxes
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you couldn't do it did you feel like you
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were being held hostage well we were
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being held hostage ransomware criminals
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are in the extortion business they hack
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an organization's Network lock up the
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data and then demand a ransom for the
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keys attackers last year walked away
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with a record $1 billion but the number
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of organizations that pay has fallen
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from over 80% to just about 30% today
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what the hell is going on in Georgia the
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stakes in Fulton County couldn't have
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been higher 5 months earlier former
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president Donald Trump and 18 others
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were indicted in Fulton County charged
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in connection with their efforts to
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overturn the 2020 election the hackers
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claim to have secret documents from the
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case and threaten to make them public
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how much were they asking several
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several several millions of dollars we
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do not encourage organizations to pay
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the ransom but we understand it's a
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business or an organizational decision
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that has significant ramifications Ryan
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vren is assistant director of the FBI
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cyber division we negotiate for hostages
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we don't negotiate with terrorists what
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is the position with ransomware
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criminals the FBI typically doesn't get
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involved in negotiating with ransomware
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actors a major russian-based ransomware
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Syndicate called lock bit took
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responsibility lock bit one of the most
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prolific ransomware variants in the
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world four months later the FBI indicted
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lock bit's alleged ring leader Dimitri
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horev who they said used the strange
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sounding name online lock bits up this
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would be the dark web specifically the
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Russian dark web our team at CBS News
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scoured hacker chat rooms online until
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finally lock bit up answered he seemed
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concerned about the FBI and told us they
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had the wrong guy he claimed to be
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apolitical and then bragged he is a wolf
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who eats the weakest he is a formidable
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adversary right but we have really good
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people in the FBI as well and that's how
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we've been able to get close to them and
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this is what we dub the the war room
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right here lockit ratcheted up its
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threats in fton county for weeks
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deadline number one came and passed get
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another call deadline number two passes
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but chairman pittz followed the FBI's
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advice refusing to pay the ROM it's
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taxpayers money and we certainly weren't
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going to pay you know foot loose and
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fancy free with our taxpayers money the
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hackers faded
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away and Fulton County pieced its
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Network back together but Pitts knows it
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was a roll of the dice these are not
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high school kids in a basement playing
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on a laptop that's not the case this is
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a big big business could this happen to
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again it could absolutely could a roll
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of the dice that paid off for now for I
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on America I'm AER Kishi in Atlanta
#Computers & Electronics
#Hacking & Cracking
#Network Security