WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - As the City of Wichita continues fighting the nasty cyberattack, many are wondering what it's going to take to get back to normal.

While these cybercriminals are ultimately just trying to get money, our neighbors to the south in Tulsa say from experience that it is possible to get through it without paying, but it's not easy.

"When we were hit with this, we were in the middle of a global shipping crisis. We couldn't get equipment, you know, the chip shortage was going on," said Michael Dellinger.

Dellinger is the Chief Public Information Officer for the City of Tulsa. He recalls one of the hardest times of his career when the city faced a massive cyberattack in 2021.

"I think what this incident has really opened up is that our employees now recognize the value of data," said Dellinger.

Dellinger says it was similar to what Wichita is going through now. Cybercriminals hack into the network and ransack as many files as they can, holding them hostage unless you pay a ransom.

Cybersecurity experts say these criminals get away with hundreds of millions of dollars. Hinds County, Mississippi paid about a $300,000 ransom. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office paid $1.1 million. But cities like Tulsa refused to send money to the criminals, saying it is possible to get through it without paying, even though it took some time. 

"Major systems were actually up by October, so it was just a little over three months. And then we actually brought our development and testing systems back up by December, so the total recovery was about six months in total," said Dellinger.

Dellinger says about 18,000 Tulsa city files ended up getting released on the dark web, but Wichita residents like Mason McDonald say they agree with Tulsa's decision not to pay.

"If you do it one time, you know, you're just giving them free rein. And they're just gonna keep doing it. And I mean, history has proven that that's, you know, that's the way that ends. So, you know, I don't think that we should pay," said McDonald.

"Citizens really should get behind their cities and understand that they're there to try and protect them and provide services for them. And it takes all of us to beat these guys," said Dellinger.

Dellinger says many of the 18,000 Tulsa files released on the dark web were police citations, which included people's names, birthdays, addresses and driver's license numbers.

Wichita says it will let the public know if it discovers any compromised personal information.