Mock 'news' site the Onion laments Atlanta's 'lame' cyberattack

Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

The cyberattack that has crippled Atlanta city operations hasn't quite penetrated the national news as yet another embarrassing event in our fine city.

But The Onion, which is a real "fake news" satirical site that goes back to the early Internet days, gave it a stab.

The headline: "Lame Cyberattack On Atlanta Doesn't Even Turn ATMs, Street Sweepers Into Killing Machines."

Here's a fake quote from a fake resident:

"When I heard about the attack, I expected street sweepers to go on an unstoppable rampage through the city or ATMs to suddenly explode on busy sidewalks, killing hundreds of pedestrians, but nothing like that has happened at all," said Atlanta resident Dan Martínez, 33, adding that the sorry-ass hackers had not even managed to turn inkjet printers or washing machines into weapons with which they could execute citizens at will. "All that's happened so far is that I can't use the free wifi at the airport or pay my water bill online. Oh, no! Whatever will we do? Who will save us from this deadly menace? It's just pathetic."

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