In a recent turn of events, Jackson County, Missouri, found itself in a state of emergency following a malicious ransomware attack that disrupted several county services. According to a report from BleepingComputer, the attack, which occurred on Tuesday April 2, 2024, impacted vital systems such as tax payment, marriage license issuance, and inmate search services. Consequently, the Assessment, Collection, and Recorder of Deeds offices across all County locations are expected to remain closed until as the IT department works tirelessly to restore affected systems. Today, April 16, 2024, Jackson County, Missouri did a soft launch of reopening the offices. As of today, the Recorder of Deeds is open to the public. Assessment & Collections will be open this week by appointment only. Online services such as tax payment and records search are functional. Check the Jackson County, Missouri website for more updates and detail.
As reported by KSHB, investigations suggest that the attack likely originated from a malicious email link, leading to unauthorized access within the county's network by a Russian hacking group. In response to the breach, Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr., has declared a state of emergency, mobilizing resources to mitigate the impact of the attack and expedite recovery efforts.
Despite the severity of the incident, reassuring news comes from county officials who confirm that residents' financial information remains unaffected, thanks to robust security measures in place. The compromised systems did not store sensitive financial data, as they utilize external payment service providers like Payit, ensuring the protection of resident data and assets.
As the investigation continues and efforts to bolster cybersecurity measures intensify, Jackson County remains steadfast in its commitment to safeguarding the integrity and confidentiality of data. While the incident underscores the persistent threat posed by cyberattacks, it also serves as a reminder of the importance of proactive cybersecurity measures and heightened vigilance in an increasingly digital landscape. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the ever-present cybersecurity threats facing businesses in Kansas City.
All of this started because of a single click to a phishing email. As a business owner in Kansas City, imagine your whole team being down for 2 weeks. Even after 2 weeks, you don’t have full functionality of your technology. Imagine telling your clients that you can't meet your deadlines or telling your team they can’t work during the whole 2 weeks.
“A Breach Won’t Happen To My Business… We’re Not A Target. My Staff Is Too Smart. We’re Good,” You Say?
Don’t think you’re in danger because you’re “too small” or don’t have anything a hacker would want? That you have “good” people who know better than to click on a bad e-mail or make a mistake? That it won’t happen to you?
That’s EXACTLY what cybercriminals are counting on you to believe.
It makes you easy prey because you are trusting your IT department to put protections in place without ever verifying their strength and completeness. Hackers are unethical but not stupid.
We have found that even many larger businesses in Kansas City with IT departments and significant IT investments have a bread-bag twist tie locking the gate to a veritable gold mine of prize data (client data and financial information) that can be sold for millions of dollars on the dark web.
Let’s be clear: You are dealing with highly sophisticated cybercriminals who can and have outsmarted extremely competent IT teams working for large organizations and government entities. You and your staff are NOT above making a mistake or being duped.
Further, most of the Kansas City businesses that get breached are not “handpicked” by hackers – that’s not how they operate. They run grand-scale operations using automated software that works 24/7/365 to scan the web to indiscriminately target as many victims as they can. Like commercial fishing boats, they cast wide nets and set baited traps – and yes, even small and midsize businesses in Kansas City get targeted and breached every day – and the attacks are escalating.
According to the ThreatLabz State Of Ransomware report, ransomware attacks have increased by over 37% this year, with the average enterprise ransom payment exceeding $100,000, with an average demand of $5.3 million.
Of course, $100,000 isn’t the end of the world, is it? But that’s not where it ends. Even if you can recover your data, a hacker has access to all of it…e-mails, financial reports, payroll information, your client list, employee data. You will be legally required to notify your customers. Do you think they’ll be “understanding”? Sympathetic that you exposed them? How will your employees feel about all of this?
But are you okay to shrug this off? To take a chance?
If a really small business in Kansas City gets hacked and sued for exposing sensitive data, they can argue they didn’t know or didn’t have the financial resources to implement good cyber security. But a larger organization like the one you’re running, with IT resources, trying to make that argument won’t win.
Saying you “didn’t know” is not even a reasonable excuse, given the extensive information that is available about cyber security protections.
No government agency, attorney, insurance company or even clients are going to buy that excuse. You HAVE been warned. You HAVE been told and you should know better.
If you get breached, you WILL be fined and questioned about what you did to protect your employees’ and client data. You have a legal obligation to protect this information, and you will face financial consequences IF you shrugged this off, made an assumption you are “good” or abdicated this entirely to your IT staff.
In fact, there a 5 significant financial risks when it comes to technology and cybersecurity that businesses in Kansas City are dealing with. To learn more about these risks and how you can address them, download our BRAND NEW free report at https://www.KansasCityITconsulting.com/financial-risk/ or call our team at 913-239-0368.
