CVBER CRIMINALS TARGET SMALL MUNICIPALITIES
No matter if it is directing vital services, managing infrastructure, or attracting new businesses to their little corner of the world, municipalities are constantly looking for ways in which to enhance their residents’ quality of life. Unfortunately, they also attract cyber criminals, who consider them to be an easy mark for an attack. According to the Barracuda Networks, 44 percent of global ransomware attacks in 2020 targeted municipalities and the primary reason for this trend is that they typically have poorly managed, “secured” networks that are typically seen as the low-hanging fruit of the cyber world.
NineStar Connect met with the Town of Morristown, IN to analyze and improve its security posture. NineStar conducted several evaluations across the municipal network to determine what risks existed and how those risks could be mitigated. These evaluations included:
• Running the Center for Internet Security (CIS) assessment tool, which compares the configuration of the desktop/server/router and other hardware to a secure and hardened configuration and creates a report that details what needs to be changed and why.
• Speaking with employees to learn how they use their computers to do their jobs, how they log in, record passwords, and save sensitive data.
• Verify when backups occur and where they are stored.
After receiving the reports from the CIS tool and analyzing the information obtained from personnel, NineStar Connect recommended processes that would help secure the network from a potential hack. “We also determined what was needed in terms of human remediation, so that they could tackle some of the most common user issues that can compromise a network,” said Shira Dankner of NineStar Connect.
POLICIES AND PROTOCOLS
Before contacting NineStar, Morristown had no policies or protocols in place to protect their network from a cyber-attack. There was no formal or informal training for employees and no restrictions on what those employees could or could not do with their computers. NineStar Connect performed a full evaluation on the network, hardware, and software to identify any potential vulnerabilities and provided the town with a breakdown on what could be done in-house and how NineStar could support the community through its own IT department.
Brad Trittipo, deputy town marshal! for Morristown said when he learned about NineStar’s new cybersecurity offering, he
was excited to be one of the first to implement it. Luckily, the program did not uncover any attacks, but NineStar did
suggest ways in which the network could be safer going forward.
“NineStar Connect conducted their evaluation over the course of a day or two and were hands on throughout the
assessment,” he said. “They came out, met with people, and talked to them about their needs. We weren’t treated like just another customer.” “It was important to speak with employees because each user interacted with the different programs in their own way to do their jobs,” Dankner said.
SECOND TO NONE SUPPORT
After receiving the reports from the CIS tool and evaluating what was gleaned from personnel, NineStar recommended a process for enabling encryption on municipal laptops, using multifactor authentication, implementing a password manager, establishing standard computer builds/backup policies for users, and identifying what computer and network equipment exists as well as where it is located. Dankner also advised Trittipo to tackle some of the most common user issues such as writing passwords on notes around the office, checking to make sure that backups were functioning (if applicable) and making sure that employees used work machines for work rather than personal business.
Trittipo said NineStar Connect’s evaluation identified computer vulnerabilities that were built into the factory settings and offered them a breakdown of what issues could be solved by him and what would require additional tech support. He said he was pleased with the entire assessment as well as the follow up support that the cooperative provides.
‘They do system upgrades, software upgrades for everything that is not directly connected to the computer (such as drivers) and they are a source of general calls for IT issues,” he said. “NineStar Connect is second to none in terms of reliability. They went over everything, and they are available whenever you have a question. They handle everything.”
To learn more about NineStar’s Cybersecurity solutions CLICK HERE.
