The City of Niceville has been the target of several social engineering attacks in the last month, according to IT director Chad Morris.

According to Imperva, “a social engineering attack is a term used for a broad range of malicious activities accomplished through human interactions. It uses psychological manipulation to trick users into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive information.”

The good news is that the city has been able to deflect almost all of the schemes through its automated defenses.

Unfortunately, not all IT attacks were captured automatically, some made it through the filter. City officials say there have been several successful attacks on vendors that the city uses, which have made the city itself more vulnerable. This is why Morris implored city employees to stay vigilant.

The Washington Post reported there have been more than 400 cities, big and small, which have become victims of cyberattacks since 2016. Bigger cities like New Orleans have lost millions of dollars in time and revenues to the attacks. In the same article, The Post reported that the City of Pensacola was attacked, and $1 million was requested as ransom; however, the City of Pensacola chose not to pay.