- The National Guard was called upon to help recover cyber attacks
- An intrusion was detected in Minnesota systems in St Paul
- The networks have been closed to isolate and protect the systems
After a suspicious activity detected in the computer networks of the capital St Paul, the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, activated the National Guard of the State to help defend themselves against the attackers.
The attack led local officials to stop information systems in St Paul as a defensive measure, including access to the network for a range of internal applications, in order to contain the threat. Mayor Melvin Carter assured that the residents of the 911 operated as usual, but shared that the city had experienced “back-end” challenges;
“We recognize that these breakdowns have created drawbacks for residents and city staff. Although these disruptions are difficult, these are necessary steps to limit exposure, preserve the integrity of the system and protect sensitive information as our survey and recovery efforts continue, “Carter continued.
A deliberate effort
The City has worked with Minnesota’s information technology services as well as an external cybersecurity supplier, but even “the scale and complexity” of the attack exceeded “internal and commercial response capacities”, explained the former Democratic candidate VP Walz.
It is not yet clear if it was a ransomware attack, but a range of networks and services was intentionally and proactive to “isolate and secure” Minnesota systems.
These are “stages necessary to limit exposure, preserve the integrity of the system and protect sensitive information,” says Carter, who reveals that the violation was intentionally caused by an “actor of an external criminal threat”.
“It was not a system problem or a technical error. It was a deliberate and coordinated digital attack carried out by a sophisticated external actor intentionally and criminally targeting the information infrastructure of our city,” said Carter.
Critical infrastructure is the higher objective for cybercriminals, which take into account the importance of the services they provide and the sensitive data they have to request higher ransoms.
The US government recently warned Ransomware of Medusa has achieved hundreds of critical infrastructure objectives in similar incidents – although no threat actor has yet taken responsibility for this attack.
Via; The record
