St. Marys, a small community in Canada, fell victim to a ransomware attack in July 2022, which cost just over $1.3 million, according to a report released by the Mayor. Of this, $860,000 was used for incident management, including the $290,000 ransom, with the rest going towards rebuilding the network system.
The attack occurred just as the town was emerging from the COVID pandemic.
The attack on St. Marys is part of a growing trend of government-linked targets by cyber criminals. Several government websites, including Hydro Quebec, have been tested in the same week, with criminals going after organizations of all sizes regardless of their ability to pay the ransom.
Experts warn that cyber attacks are the new reality, and companies and governments will have to address them like other infrastructure projects in their budget to stay ahead of the criminals.
Training staff to be more cyber-secure is essential, but organizations also need to take steps to recognize weak spots before an attack occurs.
St. Marys has hired a third-party company to monitor their system continually and not expose their vulnerabilities, which will assist them in developing a plan of action to address potential threats.
This approach is critical in protecting the infrastructure from future attacks.
