This may turn out to be really important.

[leftyladyfrommo]

Or not.

Apparently KCMO's computer system has been hacked and the hacker wants big bucks.

I tried to pay my water bill and all the systems are down in the water dept. No one can pay because no one knows who owes who what.

The city has really kept this under wraps.

The FBI has been called in. It's a real mess.

[usonian]

1. Ransomware is rampant.

A lot is conducted by Russian hacker groups, exploiting weaknesses in computer systems (which did not get security patches in time) or by phishing of employees, so that malware was downloaded to their computers on the network. These groups, including Chinese, may or may not be state-sponsored.

The administration has promulgated rules for IT departments to follow, given the number of foreign attacks, but (IMO) I.T. departments across the land are staffed with many "button pushers" as we used to say, who just follow procedures they learned in their Microsoft merit badge courses, and may not be skilled or empowered by management to make security patches, some of which may require downtime or which may cause problems that require fallback procedures.

In short: I believe that many I.T. departments are failing to implement best practices, as are employees who are untrained to recognize threats hidden in the emails they get and web pages they visit.

This *IS* in my opinion, WW3 already launched and in action, and ordinary "save a few bucks"", "hire a cheap beginner" , and "I.T. systems are a cost sink" management, totally fail.

I.T. systems have to up their game by an order of magnitude. Staff are front-line soldiers in a world war, not cheap chumps.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. A full security check of all software, and related items to software, every time that there is a upgrade, is almost

impossible to run/do in the usual time allowed by IT entities prior to the new software being installed.

This is a simple benefit ratio, spend XXX number of hours checking out/testing the new software, vs. spending only X number of hours.

As IT systems get more and more interrelated, more complex, it gets more and more difficult to fully assess the revised or new software.

Most IT people know this already, having come up against company strict guidelines on how much money and time they can spend on testing new/revised software, vs. "Install the new software already!" I've always hated this, but I can understand why. One could literally spend six months to fully test something, vs. actually spending a week testing it. It's just how much depth you want to go in testing, checking out the new/revised software.

[usonian]

7. Keeping it simpler, just make sure that vendor and system security patches are applied in time, and

getting regular employees aware of threats.

But those threats (i.e. phishing) are getting way more sophisticated, in terms of faked emails "from the boss" or even AI-created phone calls in the boss's own voice.

It's war.

However, in my limited time directing staff, I insisted on "getting the really basic things right".
If you don't, then it's game over, in the second inning.

War stories redacted ... OK one exception:

One guy was using a GUI tool to partition disks. Looked great, but he couldn't see the overlap.
I ended up repartitioning the disks from the command line, where what you see is exactly what you get.

And then, all the steps that followed.
Get the basics right. Sigh.

[Probatim]

28. From what I've learned, these hackers have better funding and more incentives to exploit weaknesses

than corporations have/do for IT security.

[SWBTATTReg]

33. Yes, and oftentimes, their security budgets won't increase unless they get hacked big-time, and then

Mgmt runs in w/ their heads off, screaming and yelling, when it was them and their tight 'budgets' that helped contribute to the cause of the hacks (and time constraints to get the new software in). Like I said, a cost/benefit ratio.

[Skittles]

35. yup

I've done a lot of IPLs for maintenance, and often you have to BEG to get the time to just do regular updates

[AZ8theist]

17. "May or may not be state-sponsored..."??!?

I CAN GUARANTEE that hacks from Russia are 100% sponsored by the Federation of Russia.
Russia is the worlds enemy and hell-bent on destroying the West and becoming the worlds dictator.

The enemies of freedom and democracy are closer than most realize:

[usonian]

18. Too busy to research it, hedging my bets. You are probably 100% right.

Love the meme.

[AZ8theist]

22. Thank you!! I'm here all week! Tip your waitress!!

[peppertree]

23. And/or Nutty-yahoo's

They very much have that capacity. And it's no secret he (like Putin) wants Biden out - and his smelly, orange puppet in.

All the more so now - what with the humanitarian pier Biden just opened in Gaza.

[spanone]

2. Our hospital where all of our Drs. reside got hit by ransomware 2 weeks ago.

They are still struggling with it. Impossible to make an appt.
Nashville, TN. Ascension Hospitals.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/10/tech/cyberattack-ascension-ambulances-hospitals/index.html

[MiHale]

6. Here in Michigan too...

We’re getting phone calls that make no sense about appointments we either had or didn’t make. My wife had an aortic ultrasound exam that was lost in the system, they said just don’t go because the results probably would take forever. Schedule at later date when everything’s fixed.

Ahh, technology makes it all better. /s

[Poiuyt]

12. Wisconsin too

My sister's boyfriend was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and the doctors can't access his tests and records.

[spanone]

26. That's horrific.

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. I think we've gotten way too dependent

on computers. It's scary what these hackers can do.

[OldBaldy1701E]

31. You are absolutely correct.

However, that genie will never be put back in the bottle.

[TrunKated]

4. people and companies need to do daily backups...

And then take the backup off line....

[Attilatheblond]

29. I did that when director of a public library in a town of 300

Backed up the computer, which held all checked out books, returned books, new books, correspondences, book orders, EVERY evening, and took that back up device home.

[James48]

8. What is KCMO?

[rubbersole]

10. Kansas City Missouri

[OMGWTF]

11. Kansas City, Missouri? Just a guess.

[yardwork]

9. It's been happening to cities all over.

They all keep it quiet but it's pervasive organized crime.

[leftyladyfrommo]

15. Is there insurance for that? nt

[yardwork]

16. I don't know.

I know it happened to my town several years ago and it was never in the news. It took months to get all the county departments back on line.

[Native]

13. Hernando County's government was hacked (Florida, near Tampa)

it has been over a month and not all systems are up and running yet. they had to revert to paper for everything. it took over a month before the permit for our new roof was approved (normally just a couple of days), and when I called about our utility bill (we're Autopay, but they hadn't issued a bill), the rep told me they have no idea how much people owe, and they are telling everyone to just pay whatever last month's bill was or a close average.

[onethatcares]

21. I just noticed

my St Pete water bill is the exact amount of last months. That hadn't happened in the 50 years I've lived here

[Alwaysna]

14. My dr office in Liberty mo was also hit with a hacker problem. It took appr. 3 weeks to get straightened out.

[leftyladyfrommo]

32. Didn't they also hit Liberty Hospital?

That was a real mess.

[Alwaysna]

36. I believe so.It was more expansive than just my dr.

[NutmegYankee]

19. Why doesn't the USA declare that these ransom groups are terrorists, and act accordingly?

I mean find them, and destroy them, without mercy, just like we would a terrorist cell. The damage these groups are doing to this country and innocent people is too much to not respond to it in such a manner.

[Prairie_Seagull]

20. Will AI come to our rescue, or

more likely be used against us? Sure seems like this is becoming more prevalent at the same time as the launch of AI.

IMO

[highplainsdem]

34. So far it seems as if AI will cause more problems than it solves. AI has enormous potential for hacking,

and that's even without all the potentially vulnerable code now being AI-generated by people with little or no training in coding.

[Warpy]

24. The FBI employs teams of former hackers

who have decided to go straight and get downright gleeful when they track down hackers for profit.

I hope they're able to track the little scumbags down quickly.

[Katinfl]

25. Hernando County FL also was hacked.

Been down for weeks and many people don't even know. No water bills, no county websites working. And no clear explanation. I expect this in FL but not in other places.

[Arne]

27. I saw years ago what happened when SkyNet was hacked.

Arnold came back.

[lastlib]

30. Jackson County, MO got hit a few weeks ago.

County exec declared a state of emergency. Operations were at a standstill for a couple weeks, I believe.

[JonAndKatePlusABird]

37. May 16: Ransomware attack leaves Jackson County with missing property records

https://www.kctv5.com/2024/05/16/ransomware-attack-leaves-jackson-county-with-missing-property-records/