San Francisco subway system paralyzed, attackers demanded 100 Bitcoins

The holidays are supposed to be spent shopping or spending time with family, but for some people, hacking into the San Francisco subway system is a "good option."

In fact, last week, a large number of computer systems in San Francisco were attacked. The entire subway system was completely paralyzed, and passengers could even ride the subway for free until the problem was resolved.

The answer to this problem lies in Bitcoin, as the attacker claims that the subway system will only be restored to normal operation after receiving Bitcoin.

More than 2,000 computer systems damaged

A malware called HDDCryptor attacked 2,112 computers at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency from Friday to Sunday night, paralyzing the entire rail system and leaving city officials helpless, according to ransomware experts.

An insider of the San Francisco Transportation Authority revealed to local media on Saturday that their system was attacked a few days ago. The payment terminal malfunctioned and could not sell subway cards.

Paul Rose, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said:

Transport services have not been affected, but we have fully opened our ticket gates to minimise the impact on passengers.

As the incident is still under investigation, it is not appropriate to disclose too many details at this time.

The attacker has made his intention clear. He admitted that this was not an accident and that he was here for Bitcoin. The following message was displayed on the computer screens that were attacked:

You have been hacked. All data has been encrypted, contact [email protected] to unlock it. ID: 601

The attacker’s unlocking condition is 100个比特币, which are worth about 7万5千美元at press time.

Hackers breaking into private networks in exchange for Bitcoins is nothing new. In the past two years, banks, police departments, hospitals and private companies have all been subjected to such extortion cases, except that the attackers only want Bitcoins instead of cash. Obviously, the problem is not Bitcoin, but computer experts prefer to accept digital currencies as a payment method that is not easy to track.

Bitcoin transactions are conducted on the public blockchain, so we can track a payment to find the wallet address. However, currency mixing services or certain money laundering devices are likely to escape government tracking.

Another problem with this type of ransomware is that victims generally choose to believe that the attackers will restore their store systems after receiving the Bitcoin. However, this is not the case. Most victims usually need to make multiple payments to get their data back.