Today’s interview looks at ways state and local government entities can prevent ransomware. Traditionally, these organizations are understaffed and underfunded when it comes to cybersecurity professionals.
The unintended consequence of this budget constraint is making them vulnerable to ransomware attacks, with its thousand-fold cost. The interview will give you a plethora of free resources to help your organization prevent a ransomware attack if you have a limited budget.
A part of the Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has assembled a Joint Ransomware Task Force. It had its first meeting in September of 2022. One of the ambitious goals was to provide free information to help organizations, like State and Local Governments, with ransomware prevention.
Well, they delivered. StopRansomware.gov is authentic. It provides information on DNS blocking and even offers a free phishing assessment. Additionally, they offer best practices for backups, multi-factor authentication, and user training.
During the interview, you will learn there are over 90,000 State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) groups who lack the resources to establish a reasonable defense against attack. Many do not realize that just because you pay the ransom does not mean they will not attack again. Even worse, you may pay the ransom and then the data can be released anyway. There is no honor among thieves.
Doug Levin, K12 Security Information Exchange, gave an intriguing four-part summary of risks SLTT organizations face:
- Primary attack vector will be email phishing – CISA can help in training.
- Legacy systems may not be patched, making them exposed.
- Due to a lack of budget, organizations may have vulnerable legacy applications.
- Passwords can be compromised (The result of a phishing attack).
SLTT groups are not alone in ransomware prevention. Federal organizations are stepping into the gap by helping in many ways.
To view this webinar: Headlines in Cybersecurity – What States Should Know | Day 1: The Fight Against Ransomware.
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