Security News > 2023 > July > Local Governments Targeted for Ransomware – How to Prevent Falling Victim

As most local governments maintain a small IT staff, there is potential for shared passwords, reused credentials, and a lack of multi-factor authentication security, exposing vulnerabilities for a breach.

The Play ransomware group claimed responsibility for breaching city services and posted about the hack on their group website.

The impact of the security breach went beyond the disruption of city services, affecting both Oakland residents and city employees on a personal level.

Certain Oakland residents, such as those filing a claim against the city or applying for federal programs through the city, may have also been affected.

The job of city IT services is already difficult due to typically smaller budgets and overworked IT staff.

There are tools available like,Specops Password Policy that enforces stronger password policies in Active Directory, helps meet security compliance standards and blocks over 3 billion know compromised passwords from use to help keep your users safe from ransomware attacks from organizations like Play.

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2023/07/local-governments-targeted-for.html