Local leaders not doing enough to protect your data from cyberattacks, experts say

More than two months after a cyberattack shut down all phone and email communications for the city of Washington, leaders are staying tight-lipped about what happened and if they paid anything to get their system back online.

It's the latest example of a local government being targeted by hackers, which in some cases has cost taxpayers millions.

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In a recent study, the online security company Recorded Future tracked 169 ransomware attacks against local governments or school systems between November 2013 and April 2019.

On that list is the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, which paid $1,400 to unlock its system after a cyberattack in December 2016.

DA spokesman Mike Manko said since then steps have been taken to prevent a similar attack but declined to elaborate further.

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The study concluded there was a small resurgence of ransomware attacks overall in 2018 but the number of attacks against state and local governments spiked.

"It's not a question if an attack will happen, but when," said Carlow University business professor Dr. Howard Stern. "I think it's going to get worse."

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Stern, who is the former chief information officer for the city of Pittsburgh, said governments need to invest more in cyber-security instead of just reacting after an attack.

"It's hard to sell spending $1 million or several hundred thousand of dollars on an initiative that taxpayers aren't going to see," he said.

Pittsburgh went on the offensive to protect parts of its system last year, working with students at Carnegie Mellon University to hack into the city's smart traffic light system in the East End to find vulnerabilities.

"The same way we have to invest in having safe drinking water and we have to invest in making sure our employees are safe when they're at work, this becomes part of the cost of doing business," said Pittsburgh Innovation and Performance Director Santiago Garces.

Taxpayers in Washington are still left guessing how much their ransomware attack will end up costing.

The city's system was unlocked after more than two weeks, but no details have been released publicly.

"I'm sure we'll have to do something publicly. But we want to make sure all of the systems are in place and we're back to a safe environment," said Washington Mayor Scott Putnam.

When that information will be released remains unclear.

Cox Media Group