“More than 40 municipalities have been victims of cyberattacks this year and unfortunately we were one of them. Due to the quick action on the part of our employees and the diligent work of the FBI, we were one of the few municipalities to recover our assets without significant loss,” said Griffin City Manager, Kenny Smith.
It is the goal of every organization to prevent a cyberattack. However, should an organization find that they have been targeted, the FBI recommends taking swift action. “When the City of Griffin fell victim to the Business Email Compromise (BEC) scheme, they took the best possible action they could have taken by notifying the FBI immediately,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Because of that quick action, our cyber squad was able to investigate and work with a team of private and public partners, ultimately recovering the majority of funds for the City. The FBI takes the BEC threat very seriously and we are working diligently to identify these perpetrators and dismantle their organizations.”
For the past few years, the City of Griffin has been providing ongoing awareness training, as well as technical prevention methods to combat cyberattacks. The City is committed to continuing these efforts to ensure it doesn’t fall victim to cyber crime again.