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A quick response, statewide partnerships and a long planning process helped the City of New Orleans mitigate what could have been a disastrous ransomware attack just over a year ago.
City officials spotted suspicious activity on New Orleans servers around 5 a.m. on Dec. 13, 2019, and quickly went into recovery mode within two days, while also declaring a state of emergency and calling in state partners to help out. The Ryuk gang, which holds data hostage in return for payment in bitcoin, was identified as the culprit.
The attack came after the city put in weeks of preparation, inspired in part by similar cyberattacks across Louisiana, which included carrying out emergency exercises and having a plan for how to back up the city’s data.