Network Outages From Cyberattacks: Downtime Danger

Network outages from cyberattacks are no small matter. Unexpected attacks from hackers can disrupt business operations for days on end and cost their targets thousands of dollars. This edition in the Cyberattack Roundup series includes woeful stories of schools and businesses caught off guard and pushed offline by malicious agents.

Cyberattacks Crash Networks

1. Lee County in Florida fell prey to a cyberattack last month that resulted in internet outages and the disruption of several of the county network’s key services. County officials and investigators may be digging for answers for months.
2. A malware attack knocked the country’s largest auctioneer offline and delayed bidding on hundreds of items. It wasn’t the only auction house to suffer outages and it’s possible that “coordinated hacking efforts” are responsible.
3. In an ironic twist of circumstances, a barrage of DDoS attacks hit website security company Sucuri and took their network offline. The company claims the attack has been “mitigated” but it is still ongoing.
4. A school district in Oklahoma suffered network outages last month at the hands of hackers and has hired an outside company to make sure it doesn’t happen again, a measure expected to cost the district tens of thousands of dollars.
5. Pilz, a major international manufacturer of automation technology, has yet to recover from ransomware that disrupted internal communications last week and forced the company to remove all its systems worldwide from its main network. The ransomware strain responsible is particularly notorious for going after big companies.
6. Ransomware breached computer networks and interrupted services at hospitals in Australia. The attack rendered affected hospitals unable to perform certain patient services and isolated from multiple systems, including their internet.
7. Hackers victimized Connecticut-based technology and mailing equipment company Pitney Bowes with what the company has identified as the infamous Ryuk ransomware, locking clients out of important online services and causing outages in various systems. The company is one of a rapidly growing number of entities targeted with ransomware by cybercriminals looking to score big bucks.

Repercussions from surprise outages can stretch into the unforeseeable future and knock core business operations into disarray. Organizations should act preemptively to ensure internet continuity in the face of surprise cyberattacks. Utilizing a failover solution like CyberReef Solutions’ Uptime Plus, businesses can keep their networks active during an outage — at a low fixed monthly cost!