Here at Cyber Safe Workforce, we are back with our semi-annual Cyber Roundups for the second half of 2018. We bring together a list of operational disruptions, disclosures of personally identifiable or other sensitive information, and financial loss across city and county governments and educational institutions, both K-12 and higher education.

Here are the patterns we saw in the second half of the year: Disruptions were prevalent, particularly in cities and counties and K-12 schools. Ransomware continued to be a major factor in disruptions across all categories. Denial-of-service attacks affected K-12 institutions. Data breaches, often accidental, were also seen across the board. While we highlighted a couple of financial loss cases, keep in mind that each one of these instances cost the organization time and money. Security awareness and training is an investment that becomes more valuable as these threats continue to increase.

One particular breach showed up over and over again throughout 2018: Click2Gov, an online bill pay portal used by cities and counties across the country. According to Forbes magazine, close to 300,000 payment records have been compromised through the breach. Several cases are noted in the Roundups and the breach appears to be ongoing, with Hanover County, Virginia residents as the latest victims.

As you read through these Roundups, consider the areas where your organization may be vulnerable. Would security awareness training help you protect your resources from ransomware, data breaches, or financial loss? Contact us if we can help.