Upon logging into the local administrator account, the hacker made use of a password-scraping tool that allowed them to obtain login credentials for other accounts on the network with greater access privileges. (Credit: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock)
Public entities tend to have tighter budgets than organizations operating in the private sector, and this can have an impact on their ability to invest in information technology (IT) security. As a result, they are becoming an increasingly attractive target for cybercriminals.
For example, in 2018, Atlanta's municipal government was hit by an outbreak of SamSam ransomware that brought down their computer systems, resulting in numerous municipal services being impaired and an estimated bill of $9.5 million to recover from the incident. More recently, in May 2019, Baltimore's government fell victim to a ransomware attack, causing widespread disruption.
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