COMPUTER:

to use our backup data to get us running in less than a 24-hour period.”

No one’s data was ever at risk, there was no financial loss to the city and no hacker was paid, he said.

There are six people in the city’s IT Department, including two new employees.

“They kept our city running,” Gale said.

Ransomware attacks are a growing threat.

Since the beginning of 2016, more than 4,000 daily attacks have targeted home computer users, businesses and government networks, according to a special U.S. government interagency report. Hackers are usually based overseas, often in China or Russia.

Yuba-Sutter Medical Clinic was hit on Aug. 3. No digital information was lost, but the clinic was temporarily limited from obtaining access to certain data, which resulted in delays and the need to reschedule appointments.

Something as simple as opening an attachment can introduce ransomware to a hard drive.

Attackers sometimes gain access to computer networks by tricking a user to share a password or open an email attachment with a virus, a government report says. Then, attackers often request payment of the ransom with bitcoin, a form of digital currency.

The best defense is proactive training, as well as the use of spam filters, firewalls that block known malicious IP addresses, and the use of anti-virus and antimalware programs that conduct regular scans.

Gale said the city will likely educate employees to limit the risk of a future attack.