Texas refused the Ransom Demand, after 22 towns hit by a “coordinated ransomware attack”
At least 22 cities and local governments in Texas are working to recover from a seemingly coordinated ransomware attack on their computer networks. The state of Texas is so far refusing to comply with the demands of a ransomware attack that affected 22 local governments, the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) reports.
A DIR spokesperson told The New York Times that the majority of the targets were specific departments in the towns. However, the Texas DIR declined to specify which towns or departments, saying it did not want to make the “impacted entities” a target for other bad actors.
On August 16, a coordinated ransomware campaign hit systems of cities and towns across Texas, prompting state officials to activate a task force consisting of the DIR, Texas A&M University System’s Security Operations Center, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and emergency and military responders. By August 23, all affected entities had transitioned from assessment to remediation and recovery; now, more than half have resumed their normal operations.
The DIR is now scheduling follow-up visits with governments to ensure their rebuilding efforts are successful, according to an update the organization published late last week. It is unaware of ransom being paid by any of the 22 affected municipalities in the aftermath of the attack.
CNN reported that Allan Liska, who tracks ransomware attacks for the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, said, “We haven’t seen this kind of coordinated ransomware attack against municipalities before. We have seen attackers that will go after local governments, but sequentially.”
Reference:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/20/politics/texas-ransomware-cyber-attack/index.html
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