Cyberattacks should serve as wakeup call

Atlanta police officers initially had to write reports by hand. Residents still can’t pay water bills online. Municipal court dates are being reset. All are fallout from a ransomware attack last week that hobbled the city’s invisible infrastructure.

Another ransomware attack hit Baltimore’s 911 dispatch system over the weekend, prompting a roughly 17-hour shutdown of automated emergency dispatching. The Colorado Department of Transportation suffered two attacks a month ago. And the North Carolina county that’s home to Charlotte totally rebuilt its system after a December attack.

For cash-strapped local governments, paying for robust protection against the invisible menace of a cyberattack can be a hard sell. But cyberattacks continue to proliferate, and experts say preparation and strong defensive measures are necessary to avoid the crippling effects.

“I don’t think any security is flawless,” said Craig McCullough, a vice president at security firm Commvault. “I always approach it from the standpoint of it’s not a matter of if but when, and when it happens, are you prepared? Are you going to be able to get your data back?”

Governments, public agencies and companies need to know their data is backed up.

Cybersecurity experts say the attack is consistent with the SamSam group, which is known as a sophisticated attacker and negotiator, said Jake Williams, founder of security firm Rendition Infosec.

Atlanta’s mayor has declined to give a timeline for when things might be running.

The Colorado Department of Transportation was hit by a SamSam attack on Feb. 21 and again on March 1, and it was back to 80 percent functionality by Thursday said Deborah Blyth, the state’s chief information security officer. In the weeks since the attack, they’ve implemented two-factor authentication for remote access and accelerated the implementation of other security measures that were already planned.