Update: The number of local government entities in Texas affected by a ransomware attack is now up to 23. In a release this afternoon, the Texas Department of Information Resources said the local governments reported the attacks Friday morning. The majority of them are smaller local governments.
The DIR says it is continuing to investigate the origin of the attack, but at the moment believe it came from a “single threat actor.” The agency says State of Texas systems and networks have not been affected.
The original post follows.
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A coordinated ransomware attack has affected at least 20 local government entities in Texas, the Texas Department of Information Resources said. It would not release information about which local governments have been affected.
The department said the Texas Division of Emergency Management is coordinating support from other state agencies through the Texas State Operations Center at DPS headquarters in Austin.
DIR said the Texas Military Department and the Texas A&M University Systems’ Cyber-Response and Security Operations Center teams are deploying resources to “the most critically impacted jurisdictions.”
Elliot Sprehe, press secretary for the department, said DIR was working to confirm which government entities are affected and said other information was still coming in.
“It looks like we found out earlier today, but we’re not currently releasing who’s impacted due to security concerns,” he said.
KUT contacted the City of Austin about the cyberattack, but the public information officer declined to comment.
The Department of Information Resources advises jurisdictions that have been impacted to contact their local Texas Department of Emergency Management Disaster District Coordinator. DIR says it’s committed to providing the resources necessary to bring affected entities “back online.”
https://www.kut.org/post/ransomware-attack-hits-local-governments-texas
“The DIR says it is continuing to investigate the origin of the attack, but at the moment believe it came from a “single threat actor.”
THE RUSSIANS DID IT!!!!!
Maybe they hit the DMV, too. I noticed an unusually long line out the door on Friday at the Mckinney DMV. Of course the DMV is always full of working sloths, so I guess that wasn’t abnormal.