New Tools Help State and Local Governments Battle Ransomware, Other Big Disasters

Increasingly, state and local governments find themselves targeted by malicious cyberattackers who sneak into their information technology systems, encrypt critical data and other files, and then demand millions in ransom payments to restore access. When governments find themselves being ransomed, their choices are typically to pay, which will undercut their ability to deliver key services to their communities due to budget restrictions, or not pay, resulting in the immediate inability to serve their communities and the loss of key data that will inevitably plague them for years afterwards.