By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — We live in a world of cyber threats, but experts are fighting back and we all play a part in cybersecurity.
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“State and local governments are seeing cyberattacks constantly,” said Ryan Murray, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security. “Every single day.”
The attacks are wide-ranging, from website defacement to ransomware, and the risks are significant.
“If you can’t go to the hospital because of a cyberattack, people are going to die. If you can’t get food, if you can’t get water here in the desert, this is critically important for us,” Murray said.
Food sector vulnerable
The Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity at UC Berkeley is bringing together cyber experts to work on solutions. One focus area is the food supply.
Jonathan Braley, director of threat intelligence at IT-ISAC and Food and Ag-ISAC, spoke about the potential threats at the Cyber Civil Defense Summit in Scottsdale.
“If we had a nationwide coordinated attack against multiple big players, that would be a disaster scenario for us,” Braley told On Your Side. “A lot of the food sector, especially the more mature companies, have very robust cyber capabilities. But the challenge is we have all these small farms that don’t have IT staff, they’re not aware of the cyber threats around them.”
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Braley said small farms often lack the resources and budgets to buy security tools, making education critical.
Simple protections
Cybercriminals target low-hanging fruit, according to Braley. He said using multi-factor authentication can deter phishing attacks.
“An adversary will see that. They don’t even want to go through the trouble. They’re going to go after the person who doesn’t have the extra layer of security,” Braley said.
Experts also recommend avoiding clicking on unexpected links, which is often one of the easiest ways for attackers to access a network.
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