Cyberattack on New Jersey cops thwarted within hours of deploying MDR solution
Municipal defenders blow away threat actors after being bombarded with thousands of attacks.
American cops are famous for the big iron on their hips - but a physical weapon is no use when dealing with many types of modern criminals.
A New Jersey municipality has revealed how it defeated a mysterious cyberattack against its police department without firing a single shot.
Ventnor City manages an IT infrastructure that includes several local institutions spread across eight different locations and consists of approximately 200 endpoints.
Its chief defender was woken up in the middle of the night and told that cops were under digital assault.
James E Pacanowski II, CGCIO/Network Administrator for the City of Ventnor, said: "We received alerts that our police department was being hit thousands of times."
The City enlisted the help of N-able, a security vendor offering data protection-as-a-service and unified endpoint management. Within just six hours of deploying its Adlumin Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solution, the bad guys were on the run.
"Thanks to N-able, the MDR solution notified us immediately and we isolated the workstation before the intruders were able to get into our network and do any damage," Pacanowski II added. “I can confidently say that MDR proved its value within the first six hours of deployment."
Modern criminals frequently use multiple methods of attack, which is why antivirus and firewalls no longer offer adequate protection.
Pacanowski II continued: “It makes it a lot easier for me that I do not have to run around and jump through hoops knowing that there is somebody monitoring 24/7, because that phone call came at 3:30 in the morning and that particular workstation was isolated. So, knowing that there's somebody 24/7 monitoring what's going on with my system has made things a whole lot easier for me.”
MDR equips organisations with the tools they need to defeat advanced cyber threats, reduce vulnerabilities, and strengthen their security posture. The N-able, solution integrates with and ingests data from existing security, using artificial intelligence to detect threats that might otherwise go unnoticed.
With both automated and human response capabilities, it does more than issue alerts in order to ensure threats are swiftly and effectively mitigated.
“The level of protection that Adlumin MDR can add for any organization is a value on its own,” said Troels Rasmussen, General Manager of Security Products at N-able. “Amid escalating threats, expanding regulations, and persistent staffing challenges, state and local organizations face unprecedented cyber alert fatigue. This solution provides the essential support they need to stay resilient.”
Ventnor City is a coastal municipality on the Jersey Shore, located on Absecon Island in Atlantic County, New Jersey. It was named after Ventnor, a seaside resort on the Isle of Wight, England, after S. Bartram Richards, the wife of a Camden and Atlantic Land Company official, suggested the name following a visit there in the late 19th century.
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