Security News > 2020 > February > Why city and state governments may be unprepared for ransomware attacks
City and state governments can be especially hard hit.
Though ransomware incidents against local governments increased in 2019, many agencies are still unprepared for a potential attack, according to a report released Thursday by IBM Security.
For its report "Public Sector Security Research," IBM commissioned The Harris Poll to survey people who work for state or local government agencies in the US. Based on the 690 employees who responded, the survey found that 73% of them are concerned about impending ransomware threats to cities across the country.
Last year saw a surge in ransomware attacks against US government agencies, affecting more than 100 federal, state, and municipal governments, according to security provider Emsisoft.
Though many government agencies and employees seem unprepared for ransomware and other cyberattacks, progress apparently has been made since last year.
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