Why Threat Actors Are Increasingly Conducting Cyber Attacks on Local Government

Reflecting on Recorded Future’s finding that there’s been a dramatic increase in the number of cyber attacks against local governments over the past several years, particularly in terms of ransomware in 2019, IBM’s Security Intelligence writes about why it is that municipal organizations are such attractive targets for threat actors. In short, the article posits that local governments are extremely attractive targets because they store valuable data on government operations and the citizens they serve, lack adequate funding and skills in their information security programs, and often have to yield to criminals’ demands to ensure critical services stay online. The article explores each of these factors in greater detail, also noting that smart city programs add to the problem by expanding the attack surface. The article concludes with a discussion of strategies city governments can employ, which take into account their constraints. Read the article at IBM Security Intelligence.