Durham City Wins The Battle Against Ransomware

On Friday, March 6th, the City of Durham and Durham County governments fell victim to a ransomware attack. A statement released on Sunday described the attack in more detail explaining that it originated from a malicious email attachment and then was spread across network servers. The effects of this attack could have been detrimental because there is very sensitive information held on their servers. Durham City responded to this attack as quickly as they could, taking networks and phones offline, in an effort to minimize the damage done because of this attack. 

Ransomware attacks on governments in the US rose 28% in 2018 from the previous year. This number is predicted to continue to rise. Not only have the number of ransomware attacks continued to increase, but also the ransom amount. In Riviera Beach, ransomers demanded $600,000, and less than two weeks earlier, $500,000 from Lake City, Florida. According to Nathaniel Popper, “security experts said that even these numbers underestimate the true cost of ransomware attacks, which have disrupted factories and basic infrastructure and forced businesses to shut down.” The importance of having a plan in place to protect your data from malware cannot be overstated.

Luckily, Durham City had installed Rubrik technology and were prepared for this kind of attack. Leaders of the city say that they are hoping to have all their systems completely up and running in several days. Kerry Goode, the CEO and Director of Technology Solutions said Rubrik technology, “is one of the leading backup systems you can purchase” and they decided they needed to have it because “it was a backup system that could not be consumed by ransomware”

Trinsio offers great protection including immutability for ransomware and end-to-end encryption. We know how critical your data and network are to you and your citizens because we are your citizens. That is why we partner with Rubrik, to bring stability and security to your organization so you can rest easy, despite the odds.