So you think your organization is resilient? Imagine surviving all of these challenges, only to be shuttered by ransomware…

Lincoln College in Illinois was established in 1865, and had survived:

1. A fire in 1912
2. The Spanish flu
3. The Great Depression
4. World Wars I and II
5. The global financial crisis in 2008

But in December, 2021, the college was hit with a ransomware attack that halted admissions activities, recruitment, fundraising and student retention.

On May 13, the college will close permanently, as a result of the financial losses it sustained from the attack and from the COVID pandemic.

Clearly, the college was able to withstand many of the business continuity and emergency threats of the past several decades. But a pandemic and ransomware, combined, were too much for it to deal with.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

For just $325 USD, you can run a 6 week, automated program for phishing, social engineering and working from home.  (Normally valued at $450 USD)

Use Promo Code: 6WEEKS

If you think your organization is ready for an incident, it would be wise to double-check your incident response plans and test your incident response processes.

Scott Wright is CEO of Click Armor, the gamified simulation platform that helps businesses avoid breaches by engaging employees to improve their proficiency in making decisions for cyber security risk and corporate compliance. He has over 20 years of cyber security coaching experience and was creator of the Honey Stick Project for Smartphones as a demonstration in measuring human vulnerabilities.