The FBI’s 2024 Internet Crime Report highlights that Pennsylvania is experiencing a sharp increase in cybercrime. With more than 27,000 reported incidents and financial losses topping $400 million, it’s clear that the state has become a growing target for online attacks.
In the face of this rising threat, awareness becomes one of our most effective defenses. When local businesses take the time to understand their digital environment and what risks it poses, they can stop reacting to incidents and start taking steps to prevent them.
In this article, we’ll discuss five of the most recent cyberattacks in Pennsylvania, what can be learned from them, and best practices firms can implement to enhance their digital security.
The Most Recent Cyberattacks in Pennsylvania
Many individuals are still not aware of the damages these attacks bring, and it’s often what makes them reluctant to prioritize their cybersecurity needs. To understand the true consequences of cyberattacks in Pennsylvania, it’s important to look at some real cases.
1. Washington County Ransomware Attack (2024)
In January 2024, Washington County experienced a serious cyber incident that quickly escalated into a ransomware attack. What began as suspicious activity on January 19 was confirmed a few days later as malware designed to lock systems and demand payment.
County IT teams immediately partnered with federal authorities and external cybersecurity specialists to contain the malware and stop it from spreading to other networks. Their priority was to protect critical services while investigating how the attackers gained access.
To restore operations and reduce further risk, officials approved a ransom payment of up to $400,000, processed through a cryptocurrency service.
2. Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) Data Breach (2024)
In July 2024, the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) fell victim to a major data breach that affected over 500,000 individuals, including members, former members, and their dependents. Hackers accessed sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers, financial and medical data, passport details, and more. The attack was later linked to the Rhysida ransomware group, a known cybercriminal organization.
PSEA responded by notifying the impacted victims and by working with experts to secure their systems. They also stated they took all possible steps to make sure the stolen data was deleted from the hacker’s database.
3. Union County Local Government Ransomware Attack (2025)
In early 2025, Union County’s local government systems were hit by a ransomware attack that compromised residents’ personal information. The breach was discovered on March 13, prompting the county to alert its 40,000 residents and bring in federal investigators along with cybersecurity experts to assess the damage and begin recovery.
While no cybercriminal group has claimed responsibility, officials confirmed that sensitive data was accessed during the attack. The county has not disclosed the full extent of the impact, but the incident underscores how even smaller local governments can become targets.
4. Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Cyberattack (2025)
In August 2025, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General was targeted in a ransomware attack that severely disrupted its daily operations. First described as a “cyber incident,” the breach brought down the office’s website, email systems, and phone lines, leaving some staff and prosecutors without access to critical files and communications.
While officials did not immediately share details about the attackers or how much data was affected, the outage lasted several days and impacted the agency’s ability to carry out its duties.
5. University of Pennsylvania Data Breach (2025)
The University of Pennsylvania suffered a major data breach in November 2025 that exposed personal information on around 1.2 million students, alumni, and donors.
Cybercriminals gained access by stealing a university employee’s login credentials and exploiting weak multi-factor authentication (MFA) policies. Once inside, they accessed systems like the university’s VPN, Salesforce, SAP, and SharePoint, collecting sensitive details such as names, birthdates, contact information, donation history, and even estimated net worth.
The breach became public after a suspicious mass email was sent and some accounts were locked out. The university later confirmed the attack was real and the result of a social engineering scheme.
What Can be Learned from these Cyber Incidents?
Every cyberattack teaches us something new, and it’s important to take these lessons seriously, because cybercriminals target individuals all over Philadelphia.
Here are some key takeaways that every business in Pennsylvania should keep in mind:
- Cybercriminals can attack anyone. This includes schools, county offices, nonprofits, and businesses of every size. If your organization uses email, stores customer data, or relies on online systems to operate, you are part of the target landscape.
- Your level of security matters. Ransomware is hard to detect without proper security in place. Most victims are taken by surprise, when their systems are already down and data is already compromised. This is why it’s vital to stay prepared for anything.
- The scale of these attacks keeps growing. These attacks don’t affect just a handful of individuals. One breach can expose information for hundreds of thousands, even millions of people, and that stolen data can be reused for identity theft, payment fraud, and long-running scams.
- Finally, the cost is rarely just the ransom. Downtime, lost productivity, disrupted services, legal work, and reputational damage can be far more expensive than the initial demand.
Best Practices for Pennsylvania Businesses to Mitigate Cyber Risks
Cybersecurity is not something we should take for granted, but something we should practice regularly. As businesses Pennsylvania begin to face greater digital risks, it’s important to keep the following practices in mind:
- Run regular pen testing. Cybercriminals work silently, making it hard to detect their presence until it’s too late. Penetration testing can help Pennsylvania businesses spot suspicious activity and malware before an attacker gets the chance to breach their systems.
- Tighten access controls. Even though it may seem time-consuming to implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), it’s one of the most important steps in cybersecurity. Stolen credentials and weak MFA are what facilitated the breach of The University of Pennsylvania, which ultimately led to the leak of over a million people’s personal data.
- Educate staff about cybersecurity. But this doesn’t mean just theory. Social engineering testing can help your employees truly understand how attacks work and what they can do in the event of one.
- Have an incident response plan always ready. In many cases of ransomware, paying the ransom doesn’t mean that your data wasn’t already leaked or sold to other cybercriminals. An incident response plan helps you react quickly and keeps your staff organized, potentially saving valuable time, money, and data.
- Reach out to cybersecurity professionals in Pennsylvania. Cybersecurity teams already have the right tools, people, and expertise to deal with digital attacks. They can help you prevent risks by spotting weaknesses in your systems, recommending fixes, and educating you on threats specific to your industry.
Strengthen your Cybersecurity Posture with CyberGlobal
Pennsylvania businesses have faced some serious threats lately, affecting millions of people and suffering tremendous losses, both financial and operational. But with the right strategy, these risks can be mitigated, and future attacks can be avoided.
At CyberGlobal Philadelphia, we’ve made it our goal to step in and help local businesses enhance their digital security, so you can operate with confidence in the digital space. We have the tools, the people, and the drive to not only be your cybersecurity provider, but your ally against cybercriminals.
Our extensive suite of cybersecurity services in Pennsylvania provides everything from pen testing, mobile and web testing, internal and external network testing, to GRC and incident response.
Not only that, but we can easily customize our offerings to fit your business’s security needs, regardless of your industry, scope, or budget. We’ve worked with large enterprises, but we can scale down to SMBs and deliver the same quality and dedication.
So, act now. Don’t let cybercriminals compromise what you’ve worked hard to build.
Reach out to us today, and let’s start building a better security strategy for your business.
