Ransomware Plagues the City of New Orleans in Early Morning Hours of Friday the 13th
The city of New Orleans remains under a State of Emergency after ransomware corrupted their networks at approximately 5 a.m. Friday morning. City officials have confirmed, limited networks have been impacted as a result of this cyber attack. Of those networks that are, city officials have plans in place to maintain operations until they are restored.
As some may recall, this isn’t the first State of Emergency declared in Louisiana as a result of a cyber attack. It honestly isn’t even the second. In July the state declared a State of Emergency due to the number of school systems being targeted by cyber criminals. Then, less than 30 days ago, the state made another declaration after government servers were compromised as a result of a cyber attack. Now, on Friday, December 13, 2019, yet another State of Emergency declaration as a result of cyber crime.
The ransomware variant that infiltrated the City’s networks remains unknown. City officials have also stated they have yet to see a ransom demand. New Orleans officials are currently working with local, state, and federal officials in an effort to restore their networks as quickly as possible.
Is there a silver lining?
Becoming the frequent target of attacks has led city officials to adequately prepare for the looming threat. Because of these preparations the City is not entirely reliant on network connectivity to complete their daily functions. Additionally, IT administrators were able to identify suspicious activity quickly and shut down computers and servers in a timely fashion, isolating the malware.
