Downtown Atlanta at night
Ransomware remains a threat to governments all across the country. There have even been a litany of attacks in our state of Ohio: the Licking County government, the Columbiana County courts, townships in Clinton and Morrow counties, the Mad River Township Fire and EMS, and multiple unnamed Boards of Developmental Disabilities!
Ransomware attacks and the burdens of recovering from them can put a tremendous burden on a government agency. The City of Atlanta, Georgia, municipal government has spent more than $2.6 million recovering from a recent ransomware attack that crippled major government functions for almost a week in March of this year. During the attack, police and emergency services were impacted, utility and parking ticket customer service portals were unavailable, and the city advised it’s 8,000 employees to keep their PCs off until the ransomware was removed. Out of extra precaution, they even disconnected the WiFi in Atlanta’s airport, the busiest airport in the world.
In an earlier post, Preventing and Mitigating Ransomware Attacks, we highlighted both preventative and mitigating actions that can be taken to reduce the risk that ransomware poses to your organization. We encourage all county agencies to recognize that this threat is still active and to invest appropriate resources to protect the agency.
References:
- Ohio’s Recent Spate of Cyberattacks is Indicative of the National Trend.
- Atlanta Ransomware Attack: Please Restart Your PC
- Ransom Demands and Frozen Computers: Hackers Hit Towns Across the US
- Atlanta Spent $2.6M to Recover From a $52,000 Ransomware Scare
- List of busiest airports by passenger traffic
