The State of Oklahoma’s IT umbrella protected the state’s information technology from a cyberattack that created chaos worldwide nearly two weeks ago. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) manages the IT unification program. The state data reported no disruptions in service during the ransomware cyberattacks that began on May 12, 2017.
“CyberCommand has a specific set of technical and response capabilities to identify and respond to cyberattacks,” Oklahoma CyberCommand Director Mark Gower said. “During the latest global incident, we had zero reports of encryptions and no indicators of a compromised system due to this ransomware.”
Self-installing ransomware is a malware that holds data hostage until a ransom is paid. This ransomware is known as WannaCry, it brought down systems worldwide, while IT unification proved its value by protecting Oklahoma state data.
“As with past threats, this current threat and any future threat, we will always take the time to validate we have the right IT and security posture to protect the state,” Gower said. “We took the weekend to review security of systems and make any adjustments we felt necessary to help guard against threats.”
OMES IT has been put to a test twice in the recent weeks. First IT kept power on during a strong storm in the OMES Data Center. Then IT protected Oklahoma assets against WannaCry.
Oklahoma Chief Information Officer Bo Reese stated “Simply put, the State of Oklahoma is stronger with a unified IT infrastructure.”
