Editor's Notes

To pay the ransom or not?

News broke yesterday that Colonial Pipeline paid the hackers behind its May 7 ransomware attack roughly 75 Bitcoin, or $5 million, to get back its stolen data. The attack has resulted in fuel shortages along the East Coast — and brought cybercriminals and ransoms back to the public eye.

It's a contrast to the case of D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department, which this week saw 250 gigabytes of private data and internal investigation files made public. Hackers reportedly demanded $4 million; MPD offered only $100,000. And when the City of Baltimore was attacked in 2019, a debate ensued about whether then-mayor Bernard C. "Jack" Young should pay, but he refused.

We'll continue to see such attacks (a reminder why investing in cybersecurity is so important). So, what do you think? What should companies and institutions do if they become the victims of extortion? Let us know: baltimore@technical.ly.

— Technical.ly Managing Editor Julie Zeglen (julie@technical.ly)