Talk about an April Fools Day joke for the City of Albany, NY!
Okay, not really…
On April 1st, the City of Albany was whammied by a Ransomware attack. It impacted pretty much everything city-wide, from the tax collector’s office to the city clerk. It even bricked the computer’s in their police cars.
No information has been released as to which strain of Ransomware it was that crippled New York’s capital. And ultimately it doesn’t matter what strain it is. This is just another instance of a municipality not being prepared to protect itself from cyber-attack.
(If you’re interested in reading more about the attack you can check out this story).
Over the past few months I’ve written numerous times regarding a variety of ransomware strains that have impacted cities across the US. Albany is just another to add to the list.
If anything, municipalities could benefit from hiring an Managed Security Services Provider (or an MSSP if you’re feeling fancy). If you’re interested in reading more about what an MSSP does you can learn more here.
