Local Learning from Municipal Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware is not only the bane of private businesses and publicly-traded companies, it has steadily targeted municipal governmental entities over the past couple of years. Such attacks can cripple a city’s ability to provide services and support for its residents. Since these attacks are reported upon in the press, do an attacked community’s citizens change their behavior in the wake of the attack? In this study, the security precautions being taken by residents within 20 miles of an attacked community were compared with Internet users living further away from the attacks. Using spatial analysis software like ArcGIS and GWR, we analyzed the data procured from an online survey of American Internet users and found that local learning complements users’ prior victimization from cybercrime and their own self-interest to influence their cautious behavior online.