CityWRX addresses ransomware with end to end virtualization and CloudWRX
On the heels of the formal launch of CloudWRX, an end-to-end cloud computing management platform, IOXO announced CityWRX, an initiative leveraging CloudWRX to provide increased security and savings for cities, counties and municipalities (“Cities”) while freeing them from on-premise IT. CityWRX targets the malware and ransomware attacks that are crippling U.S. Cities.
The New York Times reported that Baltimore has been paralyzed by a recent attack. Wired reports that a 52K ransomware attack has resulted in 2.6M in losses to the city. Other attacks have hit Sarasota, Florida; Englewood, Colorado; Hinesville, Georgia; Farmington, New Mexico; Cedar Hills, Utah; and Leeds, Alabama. Security experts advise that since 2017 these types of attacks have hit new highs and are escalating.
Atlanta lost internal and external applications, freezing city apps for paying bills and accessing court-related data. Emergency-response services were affected, forcing 911 dispatchers to resort to paper and pen. Baltimore’s ongoing attack has frozen thousands of computers, shut down emails and paralyzed real estate sales, water bills and health alerts.
When servers are unavailable, police and fire departments can lose mobile data and communications grind to a halt. To make matters worse, city employees must leave computers off until attacks are resolved to avoid being targets, which compromises services still more.
The well-being of hundreds of thousands of people are at risk when cities are attacked with ransomware. Cybersecurity experts advise cities not to pay ransoms, but many are forced to pay to regain essential services. For Baltimore, more than three weeks passed since the attack commenced and it seems unlikely the ransom payment can be avoided. The full monetary cost of these attacks, in addition to loss of services and safety, is amounting to millions of dollars and untold hardship on the citizens these cities serve.
While the company is not disclosing the growing list of cities requesting protection, IOXO CEO and Founder David Turcotte reports that seven cities, so far, have requested an immediate proof of concept of CityWRX. The company intends to roll out quickly to mitigate the risks for these cities.
IOXO moves all computing functions to the Cloud, away from on-premise IT. On-premise laptops, desktops, networks and servers typically provide the points of attack. By eliminating these vulnerabilities and adding redundant, verified back-ups and other technologies from IOXO partners FileShadow and TecServ, CityWRX brings enterprise grade protections that are typically available to only the largest municipalities to small and remote cities for less than they currently pay for substandard security, according to Turcotte.
Resource challenged cities get increased protection from hackers with CityWRX and gain a solution that is easy-to-use and lightning-fast to deploy. FileShadow adds intuitive migration tools and document management, while TecServ delivers support for a combined offering available in a single monthly or annual fee that is often significantly less that current budgets. In all, the CityWRX initiative allows every city to pay less, become substantially more secure and add powerful new resources.
IOXO’s proprietary CloudLock replaces desktops and laptops and provides secure access to city data and resources. If teams want to keep existing hardware, IOXO’s software-only version turns any internet connected device into a secure workspace. Exposure to cyber security risks can be mitigated in hours or days, not weeks or months. Even better, cities can migrate away from threat access points – desktops, laptops and servers – easily and without trained staff.
Once migrated, budget savings enable cities to add more security notifications and protections against users who try to delete email or transmit protected data. Monitoring can provide warnings about internal and external bad actors, and IOXO can make best practices compliance easier. Cost savings are substantial enough to allow cities to add disaster recovery and business continuity plans that adhere to the newly required privacy and compliance standards like HIPPAA, HITECH, PCI, HITRUST, FINRA and SOX.
“Cities that capitalize on this initiative can leap forward to intelligent cloud computing and data security, better protections against Ransomware quickly and easily while reducing their overall IT spend. Making the leap now is astronomically cheaper than after a city is hit by an attack,” Turcotte said.