Hard Times Cafe Battles Computer Ransom Demand

ROCKVILLE, MD — Computer hackers have temporarily put the Hard Times Café in Rockville out of business demanding a ransom to unlock its computers, say owners Bob Howard and Scott Roth.

Howard says they hope to reopen Friday night or Saturday at the 1117 Nelson St. location.

The venue known for its burgers, wings, chili and sports-watching is the victim of hackers taking over the business’ computers. That left the staff unable to ring up purchases.

When Hard Times staffers came in Sunday, they had a message demanding $10,000, paid by Bitcoin, to release computer files. The staff was totally shut out of the restaurant’s computers.

“The FBI tells us they can’t keep up with ransomware cases,” Howard told WTOP. “The advice is either pay the ransom or shut down your entire systems and rebuild from scratch. And that’s what we’re doing.”

Hard Times Cafe has been in business at the site since 1984. There are 11 other locations in Maryland and Virginia.

The restaurant posted a message to customers on its website:

“Dear Rockville Patrons,

We experienced a computer virus attack Sunday. We will be closed for a few days as we replace our POS computer system.

Thank you for your patience & we'll see you soon.”

»Photo of Hard Times Cafe, from the restaurant website