DAYTON, Ohio — When it comes to the recent cyber attack on Ohio's unemployment system, the CEO of Secure Cyber Defense, Shawn Waldman, said the solutions are quite simple. He said it appears to be a classic case of Ohioans reusing the same passwords.

What You Need To Know

  • Ohio's unemployment system experienced a cyber attack in July 

  • Cyber security expert Shawn Waldman said it appears the attack was because of re-using passwords and a lack of two factor authentication 

  • Waldman plans to meet with state officials to discuss ideas next month 

“The key is to have a system that manages the passwords for you, that can set up complex passwords that you don’t have to remember," he said. "Of course, the other half of the problem is just making sure that the websites that you’re logging into carry some sort of multi-factor authentication."

Waldman said to keep in mind, if your computer is compromised, the first thing hackers target is saved passwords in your browser. 

In July a Romanian crime group breached Ohio’s unemployment system, halting benefits for thousands of residents. 

Waldman said that’s no surprise. In fact, most of the criminal activity targeting the U.S. is from overseas and that the use of A.I. by cyber criminals continues to rise.  

“From a business perspective, you know we’re looking at treat actors soon, very soon, utilizing ChatGPT to generate the code that’s needed to compromise organizations,” Waldman said.

Waldman said during the pandemic, the digital transformation accelerated rapidly, and many companies are just playing catch up. 

“You were one day at work, and then the next minute you were at home,” he said. “And the whole world had to figure out how to digitally transform their lives. Things like ChatGPT are just coming out way too fast, and the world is now trying to figure out how to deal with it.”

Waldman said Ohio has always been cyber aware, and he commends the recently introduced Cyber Ohio program and the Ohio Cyber Reserves, where he is currently a member. 

And as for future economic development, Waldman said it may spur more innovation. 

“The battery plant, the Intel plant,” he said. “I think that’s just going to help spur even more of that innovation. And I think as the state of Ohio interacts with more of its own businesses inside the state like ourselves, I think that’s really going to give Ohio a heads up on all the other states as they try and catch up and get some type of organized response.”

Waldman said he plans to meet with state officials in September to discuss ideas about the future of cyber security in Ohio. 

Related Stories