LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Gov. Joe Lombardo's office confirmed on Tuesday that statewide network outages crippling agencies this week are the result of a cyberattack, and now, we're learning Wednesday that some data has been compromised by malicious actors.
In the initial phases of their investigation, state officials said there was "no evidence" that indicated personally identifiable information was impacted, but as we've learned Wednesday, some data has moved outside the state's network and officials said they "cannot yet identify or classify" what exactly was lost.
As we work to learn how this happened from state officials, I spoke to a ransomware and cybersecurity expert for some insight on the problem that's affecting thousands across Nevada.
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"We live in a really interconnected world, and so every aspect of our lives, for better or worse, are run by computers that are networked and interconnected," said James Turgal, Vice President of Cyber Risk at Optiv, a leading cybersecurity company.
Turgal told me hackers often spend months inside systems before launching ransomware. Once they're ready, they steal sensitive information and then lock down networks. I asked him if this is what happened with Nevada's online services.
“I guarantee you may have started to see this unfold on Sunday, but whoever the threat actors are, they have been in the state system for — on average — about 100 to 200 days," Turgal said.
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Recovery is no quick fix either, Turgal told me, and state officials in Wednesday's update didn't give a definitive time either. Turgal says the average ransomware attack can take about three weeks to resolve.
“The average is about 19 days to recover from ransomware. Now that depends on a ton of different factors, right? That depends on, does your organization, did the state actually back up the information that has been ransomed, and the information that has been frozen and locked,” Turgal said.
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His advice for Nevadans? Take steps to protect yourself online, a sentiment echoed by state officials in there press conference. Data stolen now doesn't always surface immediately.
“Monitoring services, credit monitoring services, you should go get them. There's a ton of identity theft that comes the next one year, two years, three years post one of these attacks,” Turgal said.
To ensure your safety, I found three identity and credit protection services for you:
- LifeLock (by Norton): www.lifelock.norton.com — Offers identity theft monitoring, credit alerts, and restoration services if your identity is compromised.
- IdentityForce: www.identityforce.com — Provides comprehensive monitoring, credit report tracking, and identity restoration support.
- Experian IdentityWorks: www.experian.com — Monitors credit reports, alerts you to suspicious activity, and includes identity theft insurance coverage.