State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Atlanta mayor says ransomware attack exposed a blind spot for the community

StateScoop: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms says she didn't give much thought to cybersecurity before her city's government suffered a wide-ranging ransomware attack, in part because it's not a topic that comes up often with constituents.

"Over the course of our campaign, we had had at least 100 forums, and we had talked about every single thing I thought there was to talk about, and cybersecurity was not a topic of conversation," Bottoms said Wednesday during a session on resiliency at the Smart Cities New York conference. "While it should be top of mind for us as elected officials, it’s not something people see and our communities are discussing."

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