Data shows that in 2019, more than 163 ransomware attacks targeted small governments, including local and county governments. The price of these ransomware attacks totaled at least $1.8 billion, while the cost of recovery totaled an additional tens of millions of dollars. The major issue lies in the fact that its often cheaper to pay ransom prices, especially if the county and local governments’ payments are covered by insurance.
The consulting firm Deloitte reported that small governments have been paying ransom demands at an accelerating rate, reporting that there were only 55 publicly reported attacks in 2018 but this number rose dramatically in 2019. Experts claim that the unique facets of local governments are likely to be the root cause of the increasing number of ransomware cases, as the organizations usually have insurance meaning they are more likely to pay the ransom demands, and they leave gaps in their networks and system security.
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