LANSING, MI (AP)-- Officials say the Lansing Board of Water & Light has paid a $25,000 ransom to unlock its internal communications systems after they were disabled by a cyberattack last spring.
The board's general manager, Dick Peffley, tells the Lansing State Journal it cost about $2.4 million to respond to the emergency, including paying for the ransom and technology upgrades to prevent future attacks. He says all but $500,000 of those costs are covered by insurance.
Peffley says paying the ransom was the only action the board could take to unlock the system.
The April 25 cyberattack shut down the board's email and accounting systems after an employee unknowingly opened an email with an infected attachment. The attack also forced the utility to shut down phone lines.
It took about a week for the utility to recover from the disruption.
