Dept. of Veterans' Affairs responds to cyber security incident

The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs is alerting the public to a July 3 malware virus attack on the agency's network.

According to a July 6 news release by the department, the staff quickly responded to minimize the spread and launched a security incident response through the Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology.

At this time, technical and security teams are working to restore crucial services and investigate the scope and cause of the incident.

"I am pleased with our staff's prompt response to this incident," said Erica Jeffries, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs. "Teams are working around the clock to restore services for our veterans in the most rapid and secure means possible. In the meantime, IDVA can be reached at 1-800-437-9824 and staff is available in our 80 Illinois counties to answer any questions on services and veteran benefits."

Security incidents such as these further validate the importance of an enterprise approach to cybersecurity at the state of Illinois.

On March 21, 2017, Gov. Bruce Rauner released the State of Illinois Cybersecurity Strategy, which has been developed to help ensure critical information and systems are protected from cyber-attacks. The plan also establishes consistent response strategies in the event of cyber incidents.

Kane County Veterans Assistance Administration Superintendent Jake Zimmerman underlined that the county's website at www.countyofkane.org/pages/veterans.aspx was not attacked by malware.

"Since the (county) veterans assistance commissions have no affiliation with the state of Illinois, our systems were not affected, and our office remains fully opened and ready to assist veterans," he said.