Weeks after the ransomware attack on the Canadian town of Midland, Gord McKay, the town’s mayor, revealed lessons that were learned from the Wasaga Beach incident.
McKay stated that the systems that were hurt the most belonged to the municipality’s finance department. He expressed a sigh of relief over the limited damage done by the attack, especially in comparison to the Wasaga Beach incident.
Earlier, Wasaga Beach –– a town in Ontario, Canada –– had a disastrous run-in against a cybercriminal group. The whole incident acted as a lesson for Midland’s management, and they started deploying security measures for ransomware removal and recovery for any such future cyber calamity.
One of the steps taken by the municipality included the acquisition of an insurance policy that proved valuable for ransomware removal as the officials were able to pay ransom without incurring any losses on the town’s budget.
Other measures included the isolation of their systems, especially the ones that were connected to the internet. The police, fire, waste-water, and water departments were isolated so that cybercriminals could not get access and disrupt the most critical services of the municipality. The post-attack investigations have revealed that the organization also managed to prevent other data –– related to HR and taxation departments –– from falling into the wrong hands.
McKay singled-out the purchase of insurance policy as a smart and advantageous decision. He mentioned the policy’s effectiveness in reducing the time period required for the ransomware removal and recovery procedures. Slowly and gradually, the municipality has been successful in the recovery of its systems and latest reports suggest that order has been fully restored in the IT operations of the town.
McKay was contacted by other affected municipalities in Ontario as well as municipalities from other Canadian states. There the onslaught of the latest ransomware attacks was discussed in detail. McKay noted that many victims are reluctant in admitting attacks. This masks the actual number of incidents.
