Do you think you’re having a bad day? How about this: a county in Southern Oregon got hit by a ransomware attack and is basically out of business as a county. Remember, cyber attacks, cyber security, and cyber insurance were all things that were unknown even four or five years ago, and now they’re creating a huge need for information for consumers.
This county in Southern Oregon, called Curry County, is basically starting from scratch because all their computers are wiped out. According to the article, they’re struggling to function. They are unable to access any information, including their online files and email. Everything, absolutely everything that relates to county operations, is now gone. The computers have to be completely wiped clean, and everything has to start over. You can’t even plug your computer into a printer and print a document, right?
So, let’s say, according to this article, someone is buying a house, and you have your interest rate locked in, and you’re about to close. “We can’t record that right now.” The county recorder, who records deeds on properties, is out of business. They can’t issue a marriage license or record the sale of your home. It’s going to cost the residents millions of dollars to fix this.
Now, it’s unknown if they have cyber insurance that covers any of this. However, they probably don’t because one of the things we have found with cyber insurance is that if you have a cyber insurance policy, that company is going to constantly monitor your network to make sure you’re not attacked.
Cyber insurance isn’t just like, let’s say, fire insurance that pays you if you have a fire. Cyber insurance is like having a fire department on-premises all the time, right? And if you buy fire insurance, there will not be a firetruck there with a hose pointing at your building 24 hours a day. But cyber insurance, in many cases, has a built-in monitoring system that pings your devices and all your computers multiple times a day to see where your vulnerabilities are, to protect you from these things happening.
The county is collaborating with state police and the FBI for the investigation. Well, that’s after the fact. Even if they find out who it is, it’s not going to fix anything. Ransomware attacks have primarily increased in the US. They also target bigger counties. As a private citizen, you’re also not immune from this. Many times, residents and civilians are attacked with cyber hacks, especially ransomware, because it’s an easy way to breach their computers.
Most people don’t have the same level of protection on their personal computers as this county had. Keep that in mind as you imagine all the information, files, and data you have on your computer or stored in the cloud, which is accessed by your computer.
Don’t leave your business vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Get a quote for cyber liability insurance from Risk Coverage.
