Ransomware criminals have developed a taste for state and local governments across the United States this year, with almost two thirds of ransomware attacks in 2019 directed at government organizations.
Local, county, and state governments, as well as schools, libraries, courts and other entities have all been under heavy fire from cyber-crooks.
Researchers at Barracuda Networks have identified more than 70 ransomware attacks on state and local government in 2019, including 22 communities in the State of Texas alone.
They found that almost all infections started as a malicious email attachment or link, and almost half of the municipalities hit with ransomware had fewer than 50,000 residents.
A coordinated ransomware attack hits 22 Texas Towns in mid August of 2019. The state declined to say which towns were affected by the coordinated cyberattack. But one expert said it could signal more such attacks in the future.
Tad McGalliard studies local government cybersecurity at the Washington-based city manager group ICMA. "Somebody out there on the bad guy front is seeing an opportunity in local governments and we got to make a better job of making sure our employees are as well-trained and as well-equipped as possible," McGalliard said. McGalliard said the Texas case should be a wake-up call to cities in remote parts of the country. "We might have thought this was a big city problem, or at least an affluent city or county problem, but I think what's clear now is just about any local government is vulnerable," he said.
These comments and the attacks are exactly what we have been warning people about for quite some time in our training sessions. Nobody is too small to be a victim of cyber attacks. If you are on the internet, you are a target. Please seek help from a qualified IT professional that can help protect your network, your computers and your users. Your business and your reputation depends on it.
