Protecting Critical Government Services from Cyber Disruptions

On September 8, 2022, the government of Suffolk County, New York was the victim of a ransomware attack. The breach caused significant data loss and prolonged disruptions to government services. For example, police incident reporting systems went offline, requiring officers to manually phone in reports over the radio. Most alarmingly, 911 dispatch computers were not functional for several weeks. The events in Suffolk County are not unique; they are part of a larger trend of rapid growth in cyber crime and attacks (such as the City of Saint Paul, MN and the state of Nevada). The potential human cost of these trends is particularly pronounced for state and local governments that rely on networked technologies to operate critical public safety and social services.