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Colorado officials: Computer virus cleanup cost up to $1.5M

By 04/06/2018 | updated 8 years ago

DENVER – Colorado officials say the state Department of Transportation is back to 80 percent functionality at an estimated cost of up to $1.5 million after a computer virus forced the department’s back-end operations offline.

The Denver Post reported Thursday that state officials say they never caved to the ransomware attacker’s demands to pay bitcoin in order to recover encrypted computer files. But officials say clearing each computer took time and additional resources – including the Colorado National Guard.

Brandi Simmons, a spokesperson for Colorado’s Office of Information Technology, said the state was able to “recover from the SamSam attack relatively quickly” due to a robust backup plan.

The cyberattack shut down more than 2,000 computers and employees had to use personal devices to check email. The state did not share the value of bitcoin that attackers demanded.

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