The Lousiana incidents align with Moody's view that cyber risk for states and school districts is medium-low because of medium vulnerability to cyberattacks and the expected low impact from an attack. (Credit: Shutterstock)
On July 24, 2019, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency in response to ransomware attacks that targeted three of the state's school districts: Monroe City, Sabine Parish and Morehouse Parish. Additional attacks in East Carroll Parish and Tangipahoa Parish school districts soon followed after the state of emergency declaration.
According to Moody's, however, the Louisiana school districts benefited from preemptive measures taken by the state to prepare for malicious cyber incidents. The quick response has so far allowed these school districts to avoid paying a ransom to those responsible for the attacks, according to the state officials, who caution that data recovery is not yet complete.
Busy hacking bots
The ransomware attacks in Louisiana are part of a larger trend in cyberattacks around the country. The Texas Department of Information Resources confirmed earlier this month that the state has been responding to a cyberattack that started Aug. 16, when at least 23 government agencies were taken offline as a result of the attack.
The Louisiana incidents align with Moody's view that cyber risk for states and school districts is medium-low because of medium vulnerability to cyberattacks and the expected low impact from an attack.
In this case, the state role has significantly mitigated the impact of the attacks. Moody's notes that cybercrimes are increasing against regional and local governments, and ransomware, in particular, has been used against school districts across the nation in the past several months. In these cases, while the financial impact did not compromise the districts' ability to provide core services, they underscore the increasing frequency of cyberattacks and the need for a coordinated effort to confront them.
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