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Local woman testifies during congressional hearing on ransomware Darren Dunn
(Washington, DC) -- More needs to be done to protect schools, hospitals, and other institutions from cybercrimes that place data and people at-risk. A familiar face in the Navarro and Judson school districts was among those who testified about this issue during a congressional hearing held Wednesday in Washington, DC. Dr. Lacey Gosch, who currently serves on the Navarro ISD Board of Trustees, was part of the panel that participated in the Joint Hearing on Combating Ransomware Attacks. Dr. Gosch knows firsthand about the challenges of ransomware attacks. She’s an elected member of the Navarro ISD school board, but her day job is as an assistant superintendent in the Judson ISD. The San Antonio area school district suffered a major ransomware attack on June 17, 2021. “I represent the Judson Independent School District as the assistant superintendent of technology and I’m here to share our experience with ransomware. My primary professional role and the events related to the testimony are from my experience as the leader of the technology department, serving over 24,000 students and 4,500 employees across seven municipalities in the San Antonio, Texas area. I also serve as an elected school board member for the Navarro
Independent School District. Therefore, my passion for seeking school support and combating cybercrime runs very deep,” said Gosch. All of the district’s data was compromised by the attack. Gosch says they would later find out that it was an attack conducted by a group using a wellknown piece of malware that allowed the attackers to gain access to Judson’s data. “The ransom note stated that all data on all devices and all servers was encrypted, including our backup systems. We immediately contacted law enforcement
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and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). The threat actors were identified as PYSA, a variant of the Mespinoza strain of malware, commonly leveraged in high paying assaults and victim selections based on their ability to pay. In 2021, PYSA was the third most prevalent ransomware strain, with primary targets of higher education and K-12 schools. The group was most notably known for their double extortion involving publicizing stolen information should victims refuse to comply with their demands,” said Gosch. Ransomware, pg. 3