Louisiana has seen its fair share of natural disasters over the years, with each event from 1980 to 2024 exceeding $1 billion in losses, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
And, as Route Fifty reports, Louisiana is now grappling with a new disaster—cybersecurity attacks.Â
Over the past five years, the state has experienced several debilitating cyberattacks, including a ransomware attack in 2019 that hit several public school systems, another that same year in New Orleans and an incident last year where five state colleges were notified that their networks were compromised. The costs to mitigate these attacks and recover from them is steadily rising. In FY 2020, the state paid $2.3 million to respond to cyberattacks, but by FY 2022, recovery costs had reached $14.4 million.
Louisiana’s solution is to apply to cyberattacks the same approach it uses when dealing with natural disasters.
When disaster strikes, a host of state and local agencies spring into action and are supported by federal agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
