Managing a Ransomware Attack: The Resilience of a Swedish Municipality – A Case Study

Anton Holmström

2025

Abstract

As cyber threats grow in complexity, organizations must rethink their approach to information security, moving beyond technical solutions to focus on building organizational resilience. Previous research has primarily relied on a technical perspective, often overlooking the broader interdependencies between different organizational departments. This case study examines how a ransomware attack impacted a Swedish municipality by conducting semi-structured interviews with key individuals from IT, social services, and management, supplemented by internal documentation, police reports, and news coverage. The findings underscore the crucial role of cross-departmental collaboration and coordination in managing cyber incidents. Specifically, the study highlights how IT, social services, and management were interdependent in handling the crisis, demonstrating the need for their inclusion in the overall information security planning. This case provides valuable insights into the challenges public-sector organizations face during a cyberattack, offering a detailed understanding of how one municipality responded, recovered, and adapted to such an incident.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Holmström A. (2025). Managing a Ransomware Attack: The Resilience of a Swedish Municipality – A Case Study. In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 1: ICISSP; ISBN 978-989-758-735-1, SciTePress, pages 199-208. DOI: 10.5220/0013110900003899

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icissp25,
author={Anton Holmström},
title={Managing a Ransomware Attack: The Resilience of a Swedish Municipality – A Case Study},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 1: ICISSP},
year={2025},
pages={199-208},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013110900003899},
isbn={978-989-758-735-1},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 1: ICISSP
TI - Managing a Ransomware Attack: The Resilience of a Swedish Municipality – A Case Study
SN - 978-989-758-735-1
AU - Holmström A.
PY - 2025
SP - 199
EP - 208
DO - 10.5220/0013110900003899
PB - SciTePress