Page 182 - Cyber Defense eMagazine August 2024

Cyber Risks for Government Agencies Are on the Rise. Why

Security Is Still an Uphill Battle.

By Sarah Gray, Director of Product Marketing at Adaptiva

State and local government and education organizations (also known as SLED) were always at risk from
cyberattacks, but the rise of generative AI has increased those risks significantly. Attackers are far more
sophisticated than they've ever been, utilizing phony emails and even deep faked phone calls to trick
unsuspecting employees into granting them access to systems.

During the first eight months of 2023, malware attacks on government organizations increased year over
year by 148 percent, ransomware incidents by 51 percent and endpoint security services incidents—
such as data breaches, unauthorized access and insider threats—by a staggering 313 percent, according
to the 2022 Nationwide Cybersecurity Review. Schools were also heavily victimized by cyber attacks,
with more than 1,300 publicly disclosed cyber incidents since 2016, reports K12 Security Information
Exchange (K12 SIX). That “equates to a rate of more than one K-12 cyber incident per school day being
experienced by the nation’s public schools.”

Cyber Defense eMagazine – August 2024 Edition 182
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