City of New Bedford

The City of New Bedford is a municipal government entity operating within the United States of America. As a city government, it provides essential public services and administrative functions to its residents and businesses within its jurisdiction. Its core responsibilities encompass typical municipal operations, including public safety, infrastructure management, public works, and community services, serving the local population and stakeholders within the city limits.

This municipality experienced a significant cybersecurity incident on July 4, 2019, when its IT network was compromised by a ransomware attack. The attackers deployed Ryuk malware, successfully encrypting files on 158 workstations, which represented approximately 4% of the city's total systems at that time. The perpetrators demanded a ransom of $5.3 million in Bitcoin for the decryption keys. City officials responded with a counteroffer of $400,000, which was rejected by the hackers. The infection occurred overnight, limiting its spread due to system inactivity, and critical infrastructure systems remained unaffected. Upon discovering the breach, the city's IT staff contained it by disconnecting compromised devices. With negotiations failing and functional backups available, the city opted to restore its systems rather than pay the ransom. This incident resulted in operational disruptions, though these were assessed as manageable compared to other municipal ransomware cases, avoiding complete service paralysis and significant financial loss.