Did anybody notice the state’s largest independent physician group, the DuPage Medical Group, suffered what they called a ‘power outage’ July 13th, which experts more commonly call a cyberattack. Calling it a ‘power outage’ is more palatable; it sounds like somebody tripped over an extension cord causing the entire network to fail. No problem, just plug it in again and all is good. A ‘cyberattack’ sounds scary because it likely involves a ransomware attack. Hackers can lock files and entire systems until a ransom payment is made.
It can happen to anybody, at anytime, to any business large or small. Government agencies from Federal, to State, to municipal can be easy targets, which of course includes the City of Naperville. Just because they experienced a ‘power outage’ previously (wink wink) doesn’t mean it can’t happen again.
That begs the question, how prepared is the City from a ransomware attack? Is it just a matter of time before we learn the real answer to that question?
Watchdog , as a resident of Naperville, called the City’s IT department a few times to get a couple of simple questions answered. I landed in voice mail each time and left clear messages, without getting a return call. I can only hope they were so focused and busy creating a fool-proof defense against a cyberattack, they had no time for making return calls. It’s also possible they were frantically updating their resumes for their next IT job.
