Following the news the Atlanta cyber attack has had a more serious impact on the city’s ability to deliver basic services than previously understood, a city official said at a public meeting on Wednesday, as she proposed an additional $9.5 million to help pay for recovery costs.
In April, it was reported that the city had (only) spent $2.6 million on effort to respond to the attack.
Ilia Kolochenko, CEO at High-Tech Bridge commented below.
Ilia Kolochenko, CEO at High-Tech Bridge:
“In light of the shocking facts around the incident that virtually paralyzed the entire city, I think that the true problem is not ransomware. The problem is unreliable, overcomplicated and insecure-by-design IT architecture. Segregation of duties, data and network access control, proper segmentation, daily backup, desktop hardening, anomaly detection – are de facto a must-have in any modern company or governmental entity. Apparently none were in place.
“The ransomware is likely driven by a trivial itch for gain, but what would the outcome be if the attackers were a nation-state group? They can cause tremendous damage to the city, its infrastructure and citizens. I think IT companies responsible for maintenance of Atlanta critical IT infrastructure can be liable for negligence. Someone should be accountable for this.”
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