Ransomware is more than merely a modern-day buzzword and a pesky inconvenience for government and business. A targeted ransomware attack can do real damage and have far-reaching consequences. Just ask the Indianapolis Housing Authority.
The Authority performs a critical role in the community, ensuring that the seniors and the most economically vulnerable and disabled citizens have adequate housing. In October the agency suffered a serious ransomware attack that resulted in landlords not getting paid through the Authority’s Voucher Program, and the real possibility that some of their personal information had been compromised. (The infiltration most likely was the result of a phishing attack, where the recipient of an email was tricked into sharing ID and password information. From there the attackers bore deeply into the system and gained access to vital networks and data.)
Internal IT teams and external IT consultants immediately sprang into action to mitigate the damage and to address the issue. While the city’s essential offices were protected by firewalls, they were clearly breached. It would be reassuring to say these incidents are rare, but they are not: Reports of infiltration of government information at all levels continue to mount. This necessitates instituting more powerful protections for data, and the ability to recover quickly and minimize any costly downtime.
GovNet specializes in building procedures, protocols and programs that protect governments at all levels from infiltration from nefarious actors. This includes employing proactive defense mechanisms and tools like managed data backup sets with built-in quarantine to recover quickly — with minimal data loss. We work with government IT departments to assess protections currently in place, and to recommend stringent cloud-based solutions, including restore and recovery tools to shielding against any outside threats. Our solutions allow departments to quickly rebound from outside intrusion and prevent them from having to pay huge sums — like the ransomware attack against the Indianapolis Housing Authority. Request a consultation.