Recovery Cost from Ransomware Attack Cost City of Hamilton Nearly $10M
City of Hamilton has spent nearly $10 million recovering from a cyberattack on its municipal IT network, according to a new report to council (November 2024). Hamilton did not pay the “huge” ransom demanded by the hackers. The February '24 ransomware attack affected 228 different internet technology applications, disabling municipal services like phone lines, electronic payments, computer-aided fire dispatch and online permits — but to date, the city believes no resident personal information was stolen. The city’s multimillion-dollar system of traffic cameras was disconnected by the cyberattack. The lost application means any time the city wants to change a traffic-light signal timing, a worker needs to physically visit the individual intersection to “manually make the change.” Some services were deemed “unrecoverable" and the city has still not recovered.