New Orleans Declares State of Emergency Due to Hackers

So far, it seems like the city escaped unscathed.

Government Shutdown

On Friday morning, the government of New Orleans declared a state of emergency and shut down its servers in response to an onslaught of hacking attempts and ransomware.

The city's infrastructure seems to have been unaffected by the attack, with many services coming back online Monday morning, according to MIT Technology Review. But successful or not, the cyberattack shows that ransomware hackers are still hunting governments — troubling news for less-prepared cities.

Confusing Debrief

New Orleans was a difficult target for the would-be hackers, because the government specifically trained for ransomware attacks and can largely continue to function without the internet, MIT Tech reports.

All the same, Mayor LaToya Cantrell tweeted Sunday that while the government would be largely operational come morning, investigators would continue to probe the attack and learn more about what happened.

Hold The Line

This was a difficult year for ransomware victims — dozens of cities were held hostage because they had flimsy cybersecurity practices, prompting an agreement among hundreds of mayors who vowed not to bow to the hackers' demands.

But given that most governments have paid their ransoms in the past, we should all hope the ongoing investigation comes back with useful takeaways for whatever cities that might be targeted next.

READ MORE: New Orleans has declared a state of emergency after a cyberattack [MIT Technology Review]

­More on ransomware: Tech Firms May Be Funding Terrorism by Paying Hackers’ Ransoms