Louisiana's Governor Activates State Resources to Assist With Ongoing Cybersecurity Incident

guest · Jul 25, 2019

A very unusual — and serious response to a threat to government cybersecurity
Louisiana's Governor Activates State Resources to Assist With Ongoing Cybersecurity Incident
July 24, 2019
http://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/newsroom/detail/2085

Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a state-wide Emergency Declaration in response to an ongoing cybersecurity incident that is affecting several local government agencies. The declaration makes available state resources and allows for assistance from cybersecurity experts from the Louisiana National Guard, Louisiana State Police, the Office of Technology Services and others to assist local governments in responding to and preventing future data loss.

The cybersecurity incident has already impacted school systems in Sabine, Morehouse, and Ouachita parishes in North Louisiana. The state is in contact with parish school systems and governments across the state to assess further areas that may be at risk.

“The state was made aware of a malware attack on a few north Louisiana school systems and we have been coordinating a response ever since,” Gov. Edwards said.
This is the first activation of Louisiana’s emergency support function relating to cybersecurity, which is newly created in Louisiana, in anticipation of the threat of cyber attacks
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CNN: Louisiana's governor declares an emergency after cyberattacks on several school systems

guest · Jul 27, 2019

Cybersecurity Attacks: Morehouse Parish School Board member talks about what happened
July 26, 2019
https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/lo...chool-board-member-talks-about-what-happened/

A State of Emergency has been issued by Governor John Bel Edwards regarding cybersecurity. This ongoing cybersecurity attack has effected multiple local government agencies– including Monroe schools and the Morehouse Parish School District.
“The bulk of our personnel files were basically hacked into,” said Tab Wilkerson, Morehouse Parish School Board Member: District 3.

This malware attack was believed to be aimed at gaining access to the system. The only way to get the information back would be to pay the ransom. And he doesn’t think the attackers have done their research.

“We’re the poorest state in the entire united states and to apply a ransom for our information seems a little short sided,” said Wilkerson.
“Fortunately everything is handled to an extent to where it’s not directly going to effect or impact anyone,” said Wilkerson.
Governor John Bel Edwards says the state has a cyber security commission that focuses on preparing, responding, and preventing any cyber attacks.
This is the first time that commission has been activated since 2017.
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guest · Aug 1, 2019

Tangipahoa Schools in La. Discover Possible Cybersecurity Breach
July 29, 2019
https://www.securitymagazine.com/ar...-in-la-discover-possible-cybersecurity-breach

Tangipahoa Parish School System phone lines and email will be offline for the most part on Monday as a precaution after district officials discovered a potential cybersecurity issue on their network Sunday evening.
Tangipahoa School Superintendent Melissa Stilley said the issue appears to be similar to problems experienced in several district offices.

In a statement, Stilley said, “Three North Louisiana school districts reported last week that cyberattacks had shut down their district phone lines and locked and encrypted school system data.” She added that it’s a pattern schools and local governments are seeing all too often across the country.
“As a precautionary measure, we have shut down the IP phone connections at all of our offices, including schools, Central Office, and our registration center so the team can mitigate any potential spread of the malware,” Stilley said.
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guest · Aug 1, 2019

Morris Jeff School becomes latest Louisiana school to suffer cybersecurity breach
Augsut 1, 2019
https://www.nola.com/news/education/article_5228d686-b483-11e9-aab9-070f67777bca.html

Morris Jeff Community School in New Orleans has become the latest Louisiana public school — and apparently the first in the metro area — to experience a cybersecurity breach, continuing a crisis that has prompted an emergency declaration from Gov. John Bel Edwards and forced officials to try to minimize damage ahead of the start of the school year.

The school said in a statement that it immediately shut down its computer network and has been following state recommendations. The security breach was experienced by a single user on a single device, and no student information was compromised, the school said.
Other school districts across the region are also taking preventative measures.

Officials with New Orleans Public Schools said they were communicating with local charter schools to make sure they have measures in place to prevent attacks, and are following the action list set by the governor.
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guest · Nov 1, 2019

State office releases details of summer school system hacking
October 31, 2019
https://www.katc.com/news/covering-...eases-details-of-summer-school-system-hacking

The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) today released details about this summer's cyber attack on Louisiana school systems.

As we reported this summer , several school systems were offline after a widespread cyber attack. According to state officials, the attack was successful in five school districts, and had started in seven others before full containment occurred.
Here are the details released today: [...] Timeline of events [...]
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guest · Nov 18, 2019

Ransomware hits Louisiana state government systems
Ransomware contained and some systems have already been recovered
November 19, 2019
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-hits-louisiana-state-government-systems/

A ransomware infection today took down IT systems and websites managed by the Louisiana state government, Governor John Bel Edwards revealed in a series of tweets.

"Today, we activated the state's cybersecurity team in response to an attempted ransomware attack that is affecting some state servers. The Office of Technology Services identified a cybersecurity threat that affected some, but not all state servers," Governor Edwards said.
WWLTV is reporting that local government employees are using Gmail accounts to communicate until the state's email server comes back online.
It is unclear the extent of the damage the ransomware did to the Louisiana state government's internal network.
LOUISIANA MORE PREPARED THAN MOST
The state's quick response to the attack is no surprise. The state of Louisiana is one of the few US states that's prepared and has a plan in place for dealing with cyber-attacks.
The commission's first big real-world test was over the summer when ransomware hit three school districts, in Sabine, Morehouse, and Ouachita.
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guest · Nov 19, 2019

Louisiana Government Recovering From Ransomware Attack
Governor Describes 'Aggressive' Incident Response Efforts
November 19, 2019
https://www.inforisktoday.com/louisiana-government-recovering-from-ransomware-attack-a-13419

Louisiana was restoring many online government services Tuesday after a Monday ransomware attack, according to Governor John Bel Edwards.

"The majority of the service interruption seen by employees and the public yesterday was due to our aggressive actions to combat the attack," Jay Dardenne, commissioner of administration, said Tuesday. "We are confident we did not have any lost data, and we appreciate the public's patience as we continue to bring services online over the next few days."
The state did not pay the ransom that the attackers demanded, instead relying on back-up systems to restore affected online services and state websites, the governor said.

Although details about this latest incident are still under investigation, Reuters, citing a person familiar with the investigation, reported that attackers used the Ryuk ransomware strain.
While the governor's office did not confirm the Reuters report, it did note that Monday's incident was related to the attacks from July.
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guest · Nov 23, 2019

Gov. Edwards declares state of emergency following cyberattack on government agencies
November 23, 2019
https://www.beauregarddailynews.net...-following-cyberattack-on-government-agencies

Gov. John Bel Edwards on Friday declared a State of Emergency following a cybersecurity incident that affected state servers this week, allowing several agencies to take actions, including waiving fees and fines, to assist members of the public.

The emergency declaration specifically allows the heads of the Office of Motor Vehicles, Department of Transportation and Development and the Department of Revenue to take certain actions that will assist members of the public affected by the service interruption related to Monday’s cybersecurity incident.

“We appreciate the patience of the public as our team of experts has worked around the clock to restore online services related to this cybersecurity issue,” Gov. Edwards said. “We know that some people may have missed filing deadlines or incurred fees because of the outage, which the emergency declaration allows us to correct so that the members of the public are not penalized unnecessarily.”
Louisiana State Police and several federal agencies are investigating this attempted ransomware attack.
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hawki · Nov 25, 2019

"Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles to reopen some locations Monday following cyber attack

State officials plan to re-open eight of its main Office of Motor Vehicles locations Monday, a week after a cyberattack crippled Louisiana state government computers and websites...

The OMV was hit especially hard and had to shutter all 79 of its branches because it operates a widespread network that required all of its computers to be repaired..."

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_1d01728e-0f27-11ea-9e29-ab92f23418fe.html

guest · Dec 1, 2019

Second Major Ransomware Attack in Louisiana Causes Significant Problems
November 30, 2019
https://themerkle.com/second-major-ransomware-attack-in-louisiana-causes-significant-problems/

Nearly two weeks after being hit, very little progress has been made.
Although some services are accessible once again, the vast majority of them are still offline.

While “only” 500 servers and 1,500 computers are affected, the recovery process has been slow going.
It is also not the first time the Louisiana region has to deal with a cyber incident this year.
In fact, it is the second wave of Ryuk ransomware making the rounds.
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guest · Dec 13, 2019

This incident marks the third major cyber-attack reported in the state of Louisiana
New Orleans hit by cyber-attack, city employees told to turn off computers
December 13, 2019
https://www.zdnet.com/article/new-o...ck-city-employees-told-to-turn-off-computers/

The city of New Orleans is dealing with a cyber-attack. The nature of the cyber-attack has not yet been determined at the time of writing, but the incident bears the classic signs of a ransomware infection.
The attack was discovered earlier today, at around 11:00 am, local time, a city spokesperson told ZDNet via phone call.

"Out of an abundance of caution, all employees were immediately alerted to power down computers, unplug devices & disconnect from the city's WiFi," said Beau Tidwell, a spokesman for New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
Officials said the Lousiana State Police, FBI New Orleans, the Louisiana National Guard, and the Secret Service are helping the city investigate and recover from the attack.

If a ransomware attack is confirmed later today, New Orleans will become the third major US city to deal with a ransomware attack in recent years after similar attacks have hit Atlanta (SamSam ransomware in 2018) and Baltimore (RobbinHood ransomware in 2019).
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This is a developing story. City officials plan to hold a press conference later today. This report will be updated once we learn more. The city is expected to announce that it suffered a ransomware attack.
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guest · Dec 14, 2019

mood said: ↑

New Orleans hit by cyber-attack, city employees told to turn off computers
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New Orleans Declares State Of Emergency Following Cyber Attack
December 13, 2019
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveyw...es-state-of-emergency-following-cyber-attack/

State of emergency declared by City of New Orleans
During a press conference, Mayor Cantrell confirmed that this was a ransomware attack. A declaration of a state of emergency was filed with the Civil District Court in connection with the incident.

Information is still scarce, while both the investigation, involving both State and Federal agencies, and the recovery process continue. It's not known what ransomware malware was used during the attack, and Mayor Cantrell has said that no ransom demand has been made at this point in time.
"The problem with ransomware attacks is that they are not always immediately apparent," Bastable said, "the attack can be undetected for a relatively long time before being triggered." The New Orleans attack could well have been "initiated in parallel with the recent Louisiana attack," according to Bastable.
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zapjb · Dec 14, 2019

I'm tired of this ****. Don't mean to start a firestorm but the State & Federal Governments should have IT Security fully funded across the nation. The ransoms, down times, loss of taxes etc. Make it a money saver/maker to be protected nationwide.

guest · Dec 20, 2019

mood said: ↑

This incident marks the third major cyber-attack reported in the state of Louisiana
New Orleans hit by cyber-attack, city employees told to turn off computers
December 13, 2019
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New Orleans' Mission: Clean 4,000 Computers in 48 Hours
City Sprints to Restore Services After Ransomware, Mayor Says
December 20, 2019
https://www.databreachtoday.com/new-orleans-mission-clean-4000-computers-in-48-hours-a-13528

New Orleans is setting an aggressive pace to restore services after a ransomware attack crippled the city's IT systems: fixing more than 450 servers and 3,500 endpoints in just 48 hours.

"We've been hit pretty hard," Cantrell says at a press briefing posted on Facebook. "But based on other municipalities through the country, we can see it could have been much worse."
Local broadcaster WWL reported Thursday that the cost of the ransomware attack will exceed the city's $3 million cyberinsurance policy. Cantrell says she plans to increase the coverage to $10 million, the station reported.
Louisiana: Battered By Ransomware
New Orleans' fight against ransomware is the latest incident affect Louisiana, which has seen local governments and schools infected throughout this year.

In July, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency. [...] Just last month, the state's Office of Technology Services found that several state agencies, including the state's Office of Motor Vehicles, were infected with ransomware
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guest · Jan 17, 2020

City of New Orleans says it will take months to recover from recent cyber attack
January 15, 2020
https://www.fox8live.com/2020/01/15...will-take-months-recover-recent-cyber-attack/

The City of New Orleans says the recent cyber attack on its networks had a more than seven million dollar impact, a number Mayor Latoya Cantrell says continues to grow. But, she adds the city will be able to recover three million of that from a cyber security insurance policy purchased before the attack.

“This is something that we have to deal with as a city and it is an expense that we also have to eat as a city. It speaks to the priority of infrastructure that has always been a priority of mine and it also speaks to the real push for maintenance of infrastructure. This will be ongoing,” said Cantrell.
The city says sophisticated ransomware was behind the attack. But no ransom has been demanded or paid in the last month since it happened.
Included in the millions the city will spend to recover from the cyber attack are buying new computers and improving the city’s IT infrastructure.
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guest · Feb 6, 2020

Louisiana Governor Urges Officials to Ready for Cyberattacks
February 6, 2020
https://www.securityweek.com/louisiana-governor-urges-officials-ready-cyberattacks

“You may not have been hit yet in your town or in your city. But it’s a question of when, not if,” the Democratic governor told a luncheon crowd of the Louisiana Municipal Association.
A cyberattack on Louisiana’s state government computer servers in November disrupted some agency operations for weeks. Since July, at least eight of Louisiana’s public school systems have reported hackers that targeted their computer networks, infecting them with malware or ransomware.

Edwards urged the local elected officials Wednesday to follow the state’s lead in refusing to pay ransom to hackers and in backing up data to secure against losses. He also encouraged cybersecurity insurance for those who can afford it.
Edwards has repeatedly warned the public and government officials that ransomware hits around the state are a new normal.

The worst effect on the public seemed to be at the Office of Motor Vehicles, which shuttered all of its branch locations for a week while its computer systems were repaired.
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