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New Orleans still dealing with fallout from ransomware attack

illustration of a laptop with padlocks on it
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

New Orleans agencies are still relying on pen and paper for some city work as security experts try to get to the bottom of an apparent ransomware attack that hit the government on Friday.

Why it matters: "This really is the new normal," said Gov. John Bel Edwards, per Nola.com. "It seems this is happening every week to 10 days here in Louisiana."

  • Edwards twice declared states of emergency in 2019 over attacks on state agencies and school districts.

Details: The likely culprit in the New Orleans attack is a kind of ransomware called Ryuk that blocks access to data until a Bitcoin ransom is paid. The FBI is working with city officials on the forensic investigation. Nola.com has more.

The big picture: This year alone, 103 U.S. state and municipal governments were hit by ransomware attacks, according to a study by security company Emsisoft.

Go deeper: How cities can guard against ransomware attacks

Ransomware