Protect Public Sector from Cyberattacks

Government agencies and other organizations have emerged as targets for attacks, according to Verizon 2022 Breach Investigations Report. The public sector industry is highly exposed and vulnerable to cyberattacks because it possesses large amounts of sensitive data which makes it a financially rewarding sector for attackers.

Sophisticated ransomware groups such as Vice Society and LockBit have relentlessly targeted public firefighting services, schools, universities, and city and county services.

IT and security teams in public sector organizations with, education, and state & local government face multiple challenges:

  • Pandemic-related increases in remote infrastructure have opened doors to attackers
  • Advanced threat protection against ransomware attacks on legacy technology and operating systems
  • Limited budgets cause significant challenges to bring in latest methodologies and best practices

Cyberattacks against public sector are on the rise.

 

60%

Of state and local government organizations were hit by ransomware in 2021, up one-third from 2020

 

90%

Of attacks investigated involved Active Directory

 

75%

Had data encrypted- highest encryption rate in the industry

 

Active Directory is a prime entry point for cyberattacks in the public sector

Because Active Directory is used as the core identity infrastructure for 90% of organizations worldwide, an AD outage can have a crippling impact on operations. For state and local governments, an attack can compromise personal data of employees, students, and citizens; disrupt essential services such as emergency communications; and jeopardize public health.

Protecting the Public Sector Industry from Cybercriminals

Semperis helps public sector organizations prevent, mitigate and recover from identity- system related breaches-before, during, and after an attack.

Challenge

Sophisticated ransomware groups targeting state & local organizations using AD exploits.

Solution

Semperis exposes security gaps in Active Directory, including Incidents of Exposure (such as configurations that have drifted over time) and evidence of malicious activity.

Challenge

Many attackers inject malware or ransomware weeks or months before triggering it, thus infecting system backups and making recovery more difficult.

Solution

Semperis reduces the time to fully recover Active Directory from days or weeks to minutes—accelerating the return of business operations and closing security gaps to prevent a similar attack recurring.

Challenge

Lack of AD and Azure AD expertise with staff in public sector organizations

Solution

Semperis has extensive domain expertise offering over 100+ years’ Microsoft MVP experience collectively in Director Services and Group Policy.

"Google is our friend, and that's why we got Active Directory stood up. Unfortunately, I think that's why many of our colleges get compromised. We are short-staffed and have a lack of knowledge."

IT Manager
U.S. Community College

Learn more about how cybercriminals exploit public sector organizations’ identity systems

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