The city of Ellensburg is recovering from a malware attack that left city data encrypted and held hostage by hackers.
Ellensburg Police Department Capt. Dan Hansberry says the city maintained multiple backups of its systems and IT staffers are working to restore city systems from those backups.
Hansberry said city financial systems are among the first to be restored, and the city can now receive payments online, via phone, or in person.
The city became aware of the attack Monday. City officials identified it as ransomware, an increasingly popular form of malicious hacking where the victim's data is encrypted and threatened with destruction unless the hackers receive payment.
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