Cyber attacks: it is not a matter of if but when, says New Orleans’ CIO

Las Vegas was hit by a cyber attack on 7 January which followed an earlier attack in New Orleans, with the city declaring a state of emergency on 13 December.

The threat of cyber attacks is growing as cities digitalise their services and use datasets to provide more efficient delivery to citizens. According to the Cisco/Cybersecurity Ventures 2019 Cybersecurity Almanac, governments rank among the most vulnerable sectors for the last five years, alongside healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, and transport.

“Over 3,400 computers had to be re-imaged, 130 sites needed to be serviced and over 400 servers examined,” Kim Walker LaGrue, Chief Information Officer for New Orleans city ...