The threat of ransomware has become so real that even false news of such attack is now becoming a cause of mass panic. A recent case of such a scare has been witnessed in Arkansas’ Independence County where the rumors of ransomware attack on the local 911 emergency has become so widespread that the local judge, Robert Griffin, has to intervene to assure citizens that 911 is working properly. However, Griffin hasn’t categorically denied whether or not a ransomware attack has happened.
He says that investigating such cyber breaches come within the ambit of state and federal authorities. They will find out if there is any dormant cryptovirological code has entered the County’s network and a ransomware removal activity is needed or not.
In a statement, the judge has made it clear that personnel from the Office of Emergency Management have tested the system under the regulations of Level 2 CJIS security testing. He has reassured the residents that 911 is working fine, receiving all the calls and dispatching the pertinent services.
Griffin has also mentioned that they identified some network vulnerabilities few weeks ago and addressed them in timely manner. Nonetheless, he has conceded that for now their data security is not fully compliant with the standards formulated by National Crime Information Center. This means any cryptovirological assault on the system can hit the network very badly and consequently ransomware removal measures will become unavoidable to maintain the workflow of the system.
Is Ransomware Rumors a Thing Now?
Griffin himself talks about dozens of ransomware attacks that has happened in last couple of weeks particularly hitting departments of local governments rendering public services (Atlanta, Colorado Department of Transportation etc). Amid that uncertainty where every other day we hear news of ransomware attack somewhere, it is only natural for people to believe on such rumors and get panicked.
In particular case of Independence County, the rumor was originated because of the disruption of internet connections. The problem occurred due to some vendor issue and not due to fault within the system. Even if its rumor, the current prevalence of ransomware attacks demands a vigilant approach from the respective authorities.
