WASHINGTON — Workers at the Hard-Times Café held their breath when the Rockville eatery reopened 11:30 a.m. Saturday, nearly a week after a ransomware cyber-attack forced the business to close.
Hard-Times was temporarily shuttered after its computers were infected with what’s known as ransomware on March 13. The restaurant had to either pay the $10,000 or rebuild its computer system from the ground up.
“We had to put everything back in [the new computer system] manually for the past two days,” says Jonathan Schneider, a manager at the Rockville Hard-Times for 15 years.
About three dozen full-time and part-time employees lost income while the restaurant was closed.
The restaurant will be closed Sunday, for Easter, but will reopen for normal hours Monday.