Cities held for ransom: Why are public entities easy targets for cyber crime?

Why are public entities being targeted repeatedly by hackers? Because they are the perfect target. Many public entities, hamstrung by tight budgets and little funding available to spend on IT systems upgrades, do not have enough security measures in place to ward off a ransomware attack.

Statistics show that 44% of local governments face regular cyber attack threats, and 28% do not know how often they are attacked. More alarming is that 41% of those local governments surveyed do not know if they’re systems have been breached.

This article provides examples of cities that have been victims of cyber attacks and highlights steps public entities can take to implement affordable cyber security measures.