Rural communities often face the same cybersecurity challenges, like ransomware, as large cities. The only difference is they might not make big headlines. Anurag Gurtu, CPO, StrikeReady, explores the need to promote cybersecurity awareness amidst rural communities and minority groups.

Most people assume that cybersecurity awareness concerns only large organizations, businesses, and enterprises since they’re more susceptible to cyber-attacks and have more to lose than small businesses. This is not entirely true.

Rural populations, minorities, startups, and small businesses are also attractive targets to hackers, scammers, and other cyber criminals. In fact, ransomware, data breaches, and hacks directed toward these groups can have a significant impact. For example, cyber security attacks can put a small business’s reputation and credibility in question and cause people in rural areas and minorities to lose their hard-earned money.

According to a recent PEWOpens a new window article, many small cities, excited about a $1 billion federal cybersecurity grant program included in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law, are concerned cybersecurity government funds and programs won’t reach them. Why? Simply because they lack the knowledge and planning to put together a proposal. All of this in light of the fact that last year, there were at least 77 successful attacks on local and state governments and another 88 on school districts, colleges and universities. 

PEW further acknowledges that States are better prepared to deal with cybersecurity attacks because they have IT departments, chief information security officers, staff and resources. Local governments, particularly smaller ones, often don’t and are much easier targets.

To make matters worse, PEW reports that Federal agencies haven’t released details about how the grant money can be used. However, many state and local officials and cybersecurity experts believe it will include training and education, conducting cyber assessments, replacing hardware and updating software. 

But here’s the clincher – the law makes it abundantly clear that governments can’t use the money to pay ransom after a cyberattack.

Therefore, there’s a need for cyber security awareness for these groups so they can learn to detect data breaches and cyber-attacks and protect themselves before any significant damage is done. That said, let’s look at the importance of cybersecurity awareness for each group.

Cybersecurity Awareness for Rural Communities

It’s often forgotten that rural communities face the same cybersecurity challenges as large cities. The only difference is they might not make big headlines. For example, the 2018 Atlanta Ransomware attackOpens a new window  significantly impacted the city’s key services. According to news, the attack cause Atlanta between $12 million to $17 million.

Cyber-attacks directed toward big cities might indeed have a huge financial and operational impact. But if the same attacks are aimed at small, rural communities, the results might be more devastating. For instance, in 2018, attackers launched a ransomware attack on multiple communities in TexasOpens a new window  simultaneously. Over 22 municipalities had their computer systems infiltrated by cybercriminals demanding $2.5 million.

These are just one of the many ransomware attacks targeting state and local governments and their communities. In fact, over 169 cases got reported in 2013, and the number has been continually rising.

Attackers seem to be hitting specific departments within states and local governments that can paralyze the rural population. These include many key businesses, financial organizations, and hospitals.

To prevent such cases, the government must improve coordination for cybersecurity for rural communities at state levels. For example, Texas communities were lucky because they had the Texas Information Resources (DIR) on their side. They also had help from cybersecurity teams from Texas A&M University System and FEMA, Texas Military Department, and FBI specialists.

Besides that, these rural communities need to have a plan on how to respond to cyber-attacks. DIR’s plan cleared all the hacked sites for remediation and recovery within a week. Another thing, rural communities need to evaluate the security practices of their 3rd party service providers, especially IT software providers.

See More: How to Implement a Cybersecurity-First CultureOpens a new window

Cybersecurity Awareness for Minorities

Contrary to the beliefs of many individuals, cybercriminals don’t target only the wealthy and powerful. Minority groups, including women, people of color, and indigenous groups, often fall victims to malware and ransomware attacks.

According to research, hackers and scammers target blacks, indigenous people, and people of color, mainly for financial gains. On the other hand, women are often victims of non-financially motivated online crimes, like the dissemination of revenge porn and cyberstalking. Other hackers steal their identifying information to use them in nonconsensual deep-fake pornography.

Sadly, these groups are left out of cybersecurity awareness training and discussions. Because of this, it’s hard for minorities to identify potential data breaches or hacks and shield themselves from them.

If governments and organizations want to reduce cyber-attack cases, they need to ensure that minorities are not left out in cybersecurity. They must provide these groups with training and resources to create a safe online environment. Also, diversity in the sector can come in handy.

Cybersecurity Awareness for Small Businesses

Like large businesses, SMEs and startups are vulnerable to cyber threats. However, large organizations have more cybersecurity awareness and resource to shield their valuable data. Plus, train their IT teams and employees to identify and respond to cyber-attacks.

But small businesses and startups survive on a limited budget, meaning they can’t invest in the computing infrastructure, hardware, and software needed to protect their information from unauthorized access. Also, most have little to no knowledge of cybersecurity and how to identify potential threats and shield themselves. Because of this, cybercriminals consider them an easy target, and they can bring their operations to a halt quickly for financial gains. 

That said, startups and small businesses need to implement cybersecurity. Although this might prove costly at first, the benefits out-way the downsides. One simple way they can do that is to increase cybersecurity awareness among their staff by getting resources from the following sources:

• Department of Homeland Security Voluntary Program
• Cybersecurity plan from Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• Information from the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team
• Compliance resources from the Federal Trade Commissioning (FTC)
• Resources from the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA)

Cybersecurity Beyond Borders

When small businesses, startups, minorities, and rural communities are cybersecurity aware, it means they understand cyber-attacks and their potential impact on their day-to-day life. As a result, they can take the necessary steps to minimize the risk and prevent any damage to their business operations and income. 

MORE ON CYBERSECURITY:

• What is CAASM (Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management) – And Does Your Business Need it?
• NFTs: Functional Innovation or Cyber Weapons of Mass Destruction?
• Lessons Learned from Cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructure
• Why Mid-market Companies Need Cybersecurity Now More than Ever