https://therecord.media/ransomware-attack-disrupts-a-range-of-services-in-a-new-jersey-county/
Exploit: Ransomware
Somerset County Government: Local Government
Risk to Business: 1.963 = Severe
The government of Somerset County, New Jersey with an estimated population of about 350,000, announced on Tuesday that a ransomware attack had caused some systems outages. The county government said that its email system was down. County offices were using temporary Gmail accounts to enable residents to contact critical departments such as the County Commissioners, Health, Emergency Operations, the County Clerk, Sheriff and Surrogate. The county says that it expects the outages to continue for a week. The County Clerk’s office also disclosed that it has been rendered unable to provide most services that require internet access, including gaining access to land records, vital statistics, probate records and title searchers before 1977 In response, the county has activated its Emergency Operations Center and Continuity of Operations of Government Plan.
Individual Impact:
No information about consumer/employee PII, PHI or financial data exposure was available at press time.
How It Could Affect Your Customers’ Business: Data security must be a priority for protecting employee PII as well as customer PII.
Risk Levels:
1 - 1.5 = Extreme Risk
1.51 - 2.49 = Severe Risk
2.5 - 3 = Moderate Risk
*The risk score is calculated using a formula that considers a wide range of factors related to the assessed breach.
