--- title: "Ransomware: Taxpayers are Worried About the Wrong Thing | DuoCircle" description: "If you haven’t been paying attention, cities are getting killed by ransomware." image: "https://www.duocircle.com/images/og-default.png" canonical: "https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/ransomware-taxpayers-are-worried-about-the-wrong-thing/" --- Quick Answer Cities that hit ransomware face a binary: pay the ransom with no guarantee of recovery, or rebuild systems at unknown cost. Lake City and Riviera Beach (Florida), Rockville Center (NY) School District, LaPorte County (Indiana), and Jackson County (Georgia) paid. Baltimore and Atlanta did not, and ended up spending millions over months on rebuilds. US Mayors at their annual conference adopted a resolution against paying. A Morning Consult survey of 2,200 US citizens, sponsored by IBM Security, found 60% of taxpayers oppose paying ransom and would rather fund recovery, even if more expensive. Notably, over 30% would not support payment even for 911 services, police, or schools. The framing problem: cities are debating payment instead of investing in prevention. Cloud-based phishing protection runs about 30 cents per employee per month, which makes the prevention math easier than the ransom math. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fransomware-taxpayers-are-worried-about-the-wrong-thing%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Ransomware%3A%20Taxpayers%20are%20Worried%20About%20the%20Wrong%20Thing&url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fransomware-taxpayers-are-worried-about-the-wrong-thing%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fransomware-taxpayers-are-worried-about-the-wrong-thing%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fransomware-taxpayers-are-worried-about-the-wrong-thing%2F&title=Ransomware%3A%20Taxpayers%20are%20Worried%20About%20the%20Wrong%20Thing "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=Ransomware%3A%20Taxpayers%20are%20Worried%20About%20the%20Wrong%20Thing&body=Check out this article: undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fransomware-taxpayers-are-worried-about-the-wrong-thing%2F "Share via Email") ![Ransomware Taxpayers](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2019/09/spf-record-4569.jpg) If you haven’t been paying attention, _cities are getting killed by ransomware_. The number of cities that have fallen victim to ransomware just 2019 is too long to list. And once a city does get hit by ransomware, the question that always comes up is, should the city pay the ransom? It’s not an easy question to answer. One the one hand, paying the ransom is no guarantee that the city will get their systems back. On the other hand, not paying the ransom leaves the city with the unknown financial burden of **restoring their systems**. Some have chosen to pay the ransom. According to [SC Magazine](https://www.scmagazine.com/home/security-news/ransomware/taxpayers-stand-strong-against-paying-ransoms/?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=SCUS%5FNewswire%5F20190910&hmSubId=01xQvtS0ero1&email%5Fhash=0da939dab246e8101d6090def505f6f5&mpweb=1325-10067-1896988), “Lake City and Riviera Beach, Fla.; the Rockville Center, N.Y. School District; LaPorte County, Ind.; and Jackson County, Ga. all opted to pay.” Some have chosen not to pay. “Baltimore and Atlanta chose not to pay their attackers, a decision that forced them to spend [millions of dollars](https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-ransomware-email-20190529-story.html) and rebuild over months.” When it comes to the decision about what to do with **ransomware**, the country’s mayors have already decided. U.S. Mayors, at their [yearly conference](https://www.securityweek.com/us-mayors-pledge-not-give-ransomware-demands), _adopted a resolution not to give in to ransomware demands_. And now it seems the taxpayers in those cities have spoken also. According to a [survey](https://web.archive.org/web/20221026043709/http://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/MKPQVOL6), conducted by Morning Consult and sponsored by IBM Security, of 2,200 U.S. citizens, “_Sixty percent of taxpayers said they are against giving in to the ransom demanded by malicious actors_. The same number stated they would rather see their tax dollars go toward paying for a recovery effort, even if it is **more expensive**, than putting their hard-earned dollars into a criminal’s pocket.” [![IBM Security](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2019/09/spf-record-check-7634.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2019/09/spf-record-check-7634.jpg) Some of the survey results were shocking. “While citizens are most likely to support payment of ransoms for services they see as critical, the services they do not consider critical are surprising. More than 30 percent of taxpayers surveyed wouldn’t support payment of any amount to assist 911 emergency services, police departments and school systems if they were targeted by a cyberattack.” While the Mayors and taxpayers have let everyone know where they stand on the ransomware issue, the question that arises is, are they worried about the wrong thing? Rather than worrying about whether or not to pay the ransom, shouldn’t they be more concerned about following **best security practices** to make sure their city isn’t a victim of ransomware in the first place? The answer is obviously yes. Best practices for avoiding ransomware include providing employee awareness training and deploying [anti-phishing software](/email/phishing-protection) like that from [DuoCircle](/). **Anti-phishing software**, with real-time link click protection, costs on the order of 30 cents per employee per month. For taxpayers who are obviously worried about their hard-earned tax dollars, that seems like a much easier decision than whether or not to pay a ransom. ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg) Brad Slavin General Manager General Manager at DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across the email security portfolio. ## Secure your email infrastructure Protect, authenticate, and deliver. Contact our team to find the right solution. [Contact Sales](/contact/) [Explore Products](/products/) Share this article [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fransomware-taxpayers-are-worried-about-the-wrong-thing%2F) [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Ransomware%3A%20Taxpayers%20are%20Worried%20About%20the%20Wrong%20Thing&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fransomware-taxpayers-are-worried-about-the-wrong-thing%2F) [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fransomware-taxpayers-are-worried-about-the-wrong-thing%2F) Copy Related Articles - [ ![AI-Generated Phishing](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2026/04/spf-record-4522.jpg) AI-Generated Phishing Has Eliminated the Typo: Why Traditional Email Filters Are No Longer Enough Phishing ](/blog/ai-generated-phishing-eliminates-typos-making-traditional-email-filters-ineffective/) - [ ![spf-permerror-4555](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2023/05/spf-permerror-4555.jpg) 10 Applications of ChatGPT that Hackers Are Already Exploiting Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/10-applications-of-chatgpt-that-hackers-are-already-exploiting/) - [ ![Email-Based Cyber-Attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2016/03/spf-record-tester-4455.jpg) 65% of Global Businesses Ill-Equipped to Defend Against Email-Based Cyber-Attacks Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/65-global-businesses-ill-equipped-defend-email-based-cyber-attacks/) - [ ![Email-based Ransomware Attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2018/02/email-smtp-service-7834.jpg) 7 Ways to Protect Your Organization from Email-based Ransomware Attacks Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/7-ways-protect-organization-email-based-ransomware-attacks/) ## Related Articles [ Phishing 11m AI-Generated Phishing Has Eliminated the Typo: Why Traditional Email Filters Are No Longer Enough Apr 28, 2026 ](/blog/ai-generated-phishing-eliminates-typos-making-traditional-email-filters-ineffective/)[ Phishing 5m 10 Applications of ChatGPT that Hackers Are Already Exploiting May 3, 2023 ](/blog/phishing-protection/10-applications-of-chatgpt-that-hackers-are-already-exploiting/)[ Phishing 4m 65% of Global Businesses Ill-Equipped to Defend Against Email-Based Cyber-Attacks Mar 29, 2016 ](/blog/phishing-protection/65-global-businesses-ill-equipped-defend-email-based-cyber-attacks/)[ Phishing 9m 7 Ways to Protect Your Organization from Email-based Ransomware Attacks Feb 11, 2018 ](/blog/phishing-protection/7-ways-protect-organization-email-based-ransomware-attacks/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. 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