KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Cyber-attacks are becoming more common and more damaging, affecting small businesses to government agencies.
On Tuesday the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority confirmed a cyberattack hit its regional call centers.
Regional Ride KC Centers were affected the most, not being able to receive calls. KCATA’s landline was also cut off.
KCATA said once they found out about the breach they contacted the FBI, and said they believe all sensitive data is secured.
Despite the attack, all bus services are still up and running.
This cyberattack is the latest to strike public agencies across the Kansas City Area.
Just last Tuesday, a cyber-security incident disrupted part of the computer systems at Kansas State University.
In December, Liberty Hospital was hit with a “cybersecurity incident” that took its systems offline for days, affecting numerous patients and their families.
The Kansas court system was also hit with a cyberattack late last year. The court is still in the process of bringing all affected systems back online.
“The reason were seeing more and more of these situations pop up is because these technologies is now available to folks half a world away who are training on computers and on data comprising tactics at younger and younger ages,” said Josh Planos, Cyber Security Expert, BBB.
Josh Planos with the BBB said cyber criminals are looking for the largest pay day, which is why they get ambitious with larger agencies.
“They’re are weak points to every technology to every system, typical when scammers or hackers are able to find those sensitive areas, whether that be within a utility service or small business they will press on that point for leverage until they are able to walk away with a considerable pay day,” said Planos.
Planos also said experiencing just a single cyber-attack can be damaging to an organization in the long term. In order to keep these agencies safe, he recommends a few things in addition to cyber insurance.
“Making sure that sensitive information is not being passed along willy nilly, making sure that depending on your role in the organization you have access to a limited amount of data rather than the entire spectrum of your organizations offerings,” said Planos.
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