Granted, federal agencies must deal with the looming threat of cyber warfare, espionage and hackers that go after high-visibility targets. But while federal networks may represent a more lucrative score for cybercriminals, that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be just as happy to break into yours too. And because so much emphasis is placed on the security of federal networks, your networks are likely to be an easier hack.
And that’s just the beginning. Once a hacker gains access to a device linked to your network, the individual can potentially use that portal to get entry into any other device that has been linked to the network. You might very well be making your entire city or state vulnerable.
If that isn’t enough to convince you that bolstering network security in your local or state departments cannot wait, take the following examples as cautionary tales.
In late 2015, hackers took down the Indiana County government website, replacing the landing page with a profanity-laced message and rendered every page on the site inaccessible except for one—a redirect page that would divert traffic to a remote site that still bore the URL of the Indiana government page. Users could supposedly access the page if they entered a username and password, which likely would have opened up individuals to attacks themselves.
In a continued string of attacks that went unnoticed for over a year, seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard sought to gain remote access to the controls of a small dam in upstate New York. Local authorities, thinking themselves below the interests of geopolitical actors, were stunned to hear of the attacks. Fortunately, the dam’s network was offline for maintenance, but had the attack succeeded, the cybercriminals could have opened the floodgates and caused millions in damages to unsuspecting homeowners in nearby neighborhoods.
The hacking group Anonymous gained access to 70 local law enforcement computer networks in the summer of 2011 as a response to agents attempting to root out members of the ring. The hackers defaced the websites of the agencies, released private data on officers, email addresses as well as privileged information on current cases.
Despite the malevolent aims of these attacks, perhaps the greater risk with cyberattacks is that they are designed to enable an even greater degree of assault. Once a hacker gains access to one system, they can spread their roots to infect more devices, derive more information and expand their operations.
Local and national governments require highly-secure communications. This is particularly true for military bases and national security agencies. Cox Business supports your regulatory compliance needs with our MEF-certified Metro Ethernet solutions. And we stand behind our networks with stringent security safeguards and 24/7 monitoring. Keep sensitive data safe. See Cox Business solutions for Continuity and Security here.
