Ransomware Strikes Again in the State of Louisiana

[correlate]

Level 18
Thread author
Top Poster
Well-known
May 4, 2019
801
Ransomware hit Louisiana’s state government hard yesterday, shutting down multiple websites and email systems after it fell victim for the second time in just a few months to a ransomware attack.
In a series of tweets, Louisiana state governor John Bel Edwards revealed that his office had activated a cybersecurity response team in response to an attack that had affected “some, but not all state servers.”
The Louisiana Office of Technology Services (OTS) took the state’s servers down “out of an abundance of caution” to “prevent additional infection”, which had a predictable impact on many government agencies’ websites, online services, and email.
Amongst the affected agencies was the Department of Children and Family Services which tweeted that its child abuse and neglect hotline had been impacted.
 

plat

Level 29
Top Poster
Sep 13, 2018
1,793
No sympathy, just profound annoyance, the true victims are the ones who need and depend on these affected services. One day offline is one day too long. I'm getting sick and tired reading about these inept agencies getting (re)infected and then acting out of "an abundance of caution" like it was something to be proud of. Should be ashamed instead, you've had plenty of time to prepare already. :rolleyes:
 
F

ForgottenSeer 823865

Reasons:
- cost saving: keep crappy Win7 and don't want to invest into modern OS (Win10 enterprise) and/or efficient security hardware/software.
- admin inefficiency : either the dude is lazy to lock the endpoints or has no skill in security (thing I see way too much time).
- denial of the threat: "we won't be a target"
 

plat

Level 29
Top Poster
Sep 13, 2018
1,793
In Louisiana's case: denial twice! Absurd!

Listen, I'm going to extrapolate a local occurence into something nationwide in scope. There was this multi-millionaire by the name of Jeffrey Epstein, who was ultimately convicted as a pedophile among other things. He hobnobbed with Prince Andrew of Great Britain and that one is now enjoying some hounding and outrage himself. Anyway, when Epstein was held in the Manhattan prison this past August, he apparently caught a coward's opportunity to hang himself. There were two guards at a desk just 15 feet from that cell and these guards were supposed to check on Epstein every half an hour. Eight hours went by and no one checked.

The two guards were later arrested for among other things: falsifying reports that they checked on Epstein on schedule. This is where things get stupid: of course there were surveillance cameras and these recorded those "guards" doing nothing more than snoozing at the desk, surfing the 'Net, and "moving around the common areas." The excuse one attorney for the guard offered? "Oh, the prisons are understaffed...."

Now then. You look at any municipality, including those in Louisiana and you are bound to find at least two bums doing almost nothing except drawing a paycheck. You eliminate them, and voila. Instant means to upgrade your hardware and network security and keep them upgraded.

Sorry for the wall of text. Just needed to vent something ridiculous and widespread: colossal waste.
 

LDogg

Level 33
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Well-known
May 4, 2018
2,261
No sympathy. How can they have the thought process that they'll never be hit. They are not home users where the chance of being targeted is reduced massively, companies/organisations are always at a greater risk of being attacked by malicious individuals.

~LDogg
 

Dave Russo

Level 21
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May 26, 2014
1,042
I am not very savvy when it comes to the real technical workings with computer security(just a hobby of sorts based on this site and other reviews), Please correct me,but doesn't external backups allow people or businesses to get there systems back up and running in fairly short order?

sorry but what does He have to do with this?
 

upnorth

Moderator
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Staff Member
Malware Hunter
Well-known
Jul 27, 2015
5,459
I actually have all the sympathy in the world, for those poor common home users/citizens that if not directly effected as services aren't working, in the end always have to pay in one way or another. If not raised taxes, it will happen in raised account fees etc. If it only was those politicians and some company board members that was hit, that's another case but the reality sadly ain't like that.
child abuse and neglect hotline had been impacted.
😤
 

plat

Level 29
Top Poster
Sep 13, 2018
1,793
That's the crux of the matter. It's kinda natural to believe the impacted agencies, the schools and hospitals, etc are the "victims." No way! There should be criminal investigation into at least some of these occurrences, particularly in mission-critical areas like hospitals--the ICU, and whatnot. The penalties should be very, very harsh for those who enable these ransomware infections when they were in positions to completely prevent them. Do people have to out-and-out die before someone gets off his/her a** to remedy the vulns?
 

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