Ontario City’s $18.3M Cyberattack Bill: A Wake‑up Call for SMBs
Think “Bad things only happen to big enterprises?" Think again.
In February 2024, a city in Ontario fell victim to a complex ransomware attack, shutting down about 80% of its network and crippling services like licensing, property‑tax processing, transit planning, and more. The hackers demanded roughly $18.5 million to decrypt the data, but the city refused to pay.
Regardless, the city of Hamilton still spent a staggering $18.3 million on third-party expert support and system recovery.
What makes this case especially noteworthy? When Hamilton filed an insurance claim to cover recovery costs, their claim was denied....because they hadn’t fully implemented Multi‑Factor Authentication (MFA), a standard cybersecurity requirement under many policies.
That denial shifted the $18.3 million expense onto unsuspecting taxpayers.
Why SMBs should care:
✖You DO NOT need to be a massive organization to be targeted. Attackers go after any vulnerable entry point.
✖Lack of basic security controls like MFA doesn’t just expose you to breaches, it can void your insurance.
✖Post‑breach recovery is expensive and painful, often involving months of cleanup, infrastructure rebuilds, and expert support.
‼️ Backup systems and MFA are not optional, they’re fundamental. Insurance providers and attackers alike expect them.
At Coastline Technologies, we help businesses of all sizes build solid defenses: enforcing MFA, segmenting networks, maintaining offline backups, and aligning your security posture with policy requirements.
Bottom line: Cyber incidents aren’t just a big‑company problem. If you assume they’ll never happen to you, you’re leaving yourself, and your finances, exposed.