Cyber security expert breaks down ransomware attacks

An apparent “ransomware” virus infected 1,500 of the state’s 30,000 computers. This was the second state of emergency following a cyber-attack on multi-parish school systems back in July. KNOE sat down with Ieshea Jones, the Founder/CEO of Direnzic Technology and Consulting, LLC who said that these types of attacks have become more common and can happen anywhere. "We’ve had several cities and or states that have been affected we're talking port authorities that have been hacked,” Jones said. The system is infiltrated and information is held hostage until a ransom is paid in a ransomware attack. In this case, the virus put a special passcode on state data. Jones said the breach can happen for a variety of reasons.