State of Cyber Defense
U.S. Virgin Islands
A high-level overview of the escalating cyber threats facing the USVI and the territory's evolving response capabilities, based on recent incidents and official reports.
2%
Employee Training Gap
Portion of government staff trained to spot phishing as of 2021, a critical vulnerability.
$2.17M
Lost to Phishing
Amount lost by the Water & Power Authority in a single fraudulent wire transfer scam.
12+/Week
Security Alerts
Average number of weekly security events requiring attention by the Bureau of IT.
An Escalating Wave of Attacks
From phishing scams to crippling ransomware, the frequency and severity of cyber incidents in the USVI have steadily increased, impacting critical sectors across the territory.
2018: WAPA Phishing Scam
The Water & Power Authority lost $2.17 million to fraudulent wire transfers.
2019: Police Dept. Ransomware
Access to historical case records was crippled by two separate attacks.
Oct 2023: Healthcare Clinic Breach
Frederiksted Health Care forced offline, suspected ransomware holding patient data.
July 2024: Hospital Ransomware
Schneider Regional Medical Center's electronic health records were knocked out.
Mar 2025: Lottery Ransomware
A six-week operational shutdown resulted from an attack with a $1M ransom demand, which was refused.
The Anatomy of a Threat
Dynamic Threat Briefing
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The Human Factor: A Critical Vulnerability
Technology alone cannot secure a network. With only a fraction of employees trained to identify threats, the risk of human error leading to a major breach remains exceptionally high.
Each icon represents a government employee. The colored icons represent those trained to spot phishing scams.
The Response Playbook: A Collaborative Defense
When a major incident occurs, the USVI activates a multi-agency response structure, combining local expertise with powerful federal resources to contain threats and manage recovery.
CYBER INCIDENT
Affected Agency Incident Command
Isolates Systems & Manages Operations
Provides technical support, policy guidance, and coordinates the government-wide response.
Manages emergency grants, planning, and shares threat intelligence with partners.
Engaged for forensics, incident response, and investigation of serious breaches.
Path Forward: Recommendations
1. Expand Cyber Training
Make awareness training mandatory for all government employees to create a human firewall against phishing and social engineering.
2. Centralize IT Security
Empower the Bureau of IT to enforce uniform security standards and monitor all agency networks from a central SOC.
3. Enhance Response Planning
Conduct annual incident response drills and tabletop exercises for all critical agencies to identify and close gaps.
4. Mandate MFA Everywhere
Require multi-factor authentication for all users accessing government systems to drastically reduce breach risk.
5. Improve Backups
Mandate regular, tested, and offline backups for all agencies to ensure rapid recovery from ransomware without paying ransoms.
And... Accelerate Funding
Urgently deploy available grant funds for critical upgrades, security tools, and proactive penetration testing.
Personalized Security Recommendations
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