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New York’s Efforts to Counter Cyberattacks

Cybercrimes, such as those involving phishing and ransomware, are on the rise. These attacks can have a significant impact on the public when they target public authorities and local governments that oversee a variety of services the public depends on, including water systems utilities, airports, schools, and health care facilities.

In a report, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) cannot assure that its Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) is meeting the needs of its customers. Cyberattacks have already hit New York state agencies, 911 systems, cities, towns and school districts and pose a significant risk to critical infrastructure.

Cyberattack complaints increased from 114,702 in 2019 to 241,342 in 2020, according to the FBI. The financial impact of these attacks is not insignificant. After a 2019 ransomware cyberattack, the city of Albany, for example, spent $300,000 to replace destroyed servers, upgrade user security software, purchase firewall insurance and harden the city’s systems.

New York’s Cyber Incident Response Team plays a vital role in safeguarding our infrastructure and critical data against cybersecurity threats. There is a lack of forward-thinking strategies, widespread training, and specific and measurable objectives that are critical in assessing progress. Additionally, the agency needs to be more proactive. As cybersecurity attacks continue to rise, I encourage the state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to take quick action on this urgent issue.

– Thomas DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller

Between May 2018 and December 2020, CIRT responded to 122 cyberattacks statewide, including 39 phishing incidents, 23 ransomware attacks and incidents of compromised accounts. But CIRT’s activities have only reached a fraction of the 2,800 entities it is responsible for.

The report also said that CIRT is not doing enough to proactively evaluate the cybersecurity needs of the agencies it assists and measure its progress in improving security. It conducted 11 risk assessments at the request of counties, local government and a non-executive agency, but most of CIRT’s activity is on a by-request basis or when areas of need are identified. Only five training sessions on phishing emails were conducted between July 2020 and March 2021, despite the risks of ransomware-infected emails.

The audit said without clear goals and documentation of security needs and progress officials cannot be assured their work is achieving the desired outcomes if it is focused on where public entities most need help, and if its limited resources are being used to the greatest benefit of the entities it was created to support.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will help local governments fund modernize and protect their networks against future cyberattacks, but in the meantime, DiNapoli recommended the DHSES develop specific, measurable objectives and goals so that CIRT can evaluate if it is achieving its mission. He also called on CIRT to identify the cybersecurity needs of the entities it is charged with supporting.

As reported by OpenGov Asia, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published a fact sheet to help public- and private-sector organisations prevent and respond to ransomware attackers threatening to release sensitive information if a victim does not pay the ransom demanded.

Malicious actors increasingly exfiltrate data and then threaten to sell or leak it—including sensitive or personal information—if the ransom is not paid. These data breaches can cause financial loss to the victim organisation and erode customer trust.

Internet-facing vulnerabilities must be addressed, software updated, devices properly configured and remote-desktop services should be regularly audited. Spam filters and cybersecurity-awareness training will help reduce the risk of successful phishing attacks, and carefully managing privileged accounts and employing multifactor authentication will increase cyber hygiene.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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