Why local governments are a hot target for cyberattacks

Over the course of the past few weeks, a seemingly stepped-up wave of malware and ransomware infections has struck a number of municipalities across the U.S.

• On April 10, the city of Greenville, North Carolina, had to disconnect most city-owned computers from the internet due to what officials said was a RobinHood ransomware infection, a duplicitous piece of malware that pretends to raise awareness and funds for the people of Yemen.
• On April 13, Imperial County, California was hit with Ryuk ransomware, which is designed to target enterprise environments, forcing its website to go dark and causing some city systems to malfunction, including a number of departments’ phone lines.
• On the same day Imperial County was infected, the city of Stuart, Florida, was hit by Ryuk ransomware, forcing system shut-downs affecting payroll, utilities and other vital functions, including police and fire departments.
• On April 18, an unspecified piece of malware, likely ransomware, crippled the city’s computer network in Augusta, Maine.
• On April 21, the municipally owned airport in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Hopkins International airport, was struck by still-unspecified malware, causing the airport’s flight and baggage information boards to go dark, an outage that lasted at least five days.