Cyberattacks on Texas cities put other governments on guard
CHICAGO — Cyberattacks that recently crippled nearly two dozen Texas cities have put other local governments on guard, offering the latest evidence that hackers can halt routine operations by locking up computers and public records and demanding steep ransoms.
Government agencies that fail to keep reliable backups of their data could be forced to choose between paying ransoms or spending even more to rebuild lost systems. Officials are increasingly turning to cybersecurity insurance to help curb the growing threat.
“I think we’re entering an epidemic stage,” said Alan Shark, executive director of the Public Technology Institute, which provides training and other support for local government technology employees. “The bad actors have been emboldened.”
The attacks, which have been happening for years, can set governments back decades. Libraries can’t use electronic checkout systems. Police can’t access electronic records, and utility bills must be paid with paper checks rather than online.
Protection is expensive, particularly for smaller cities whose employees may not be trained on the latest ransomware, which often spreads through emails containing malicious links or attachments. Hackers can also entice users to visit a compromised website and then encrypt files stored on a computer or network until a payment is made.
In Keene, a community of about 6,000 people about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southwest of Dallas, problems began Friday when computers used by its roughly 50 employees locked up and prevented any credit card payments, officials said.
Three other cities identified themselves as victims. A spokeswoman for the city of Borger declined to comment on security efforts or costs, and messages for officials in Wilmer and Kaufman were not returned.
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are working with the affected cities but declined to release the names of all 22 governments or provide any detail about how the hackers gained access to their systems.
Cities of all sizes have been targeted in recent years, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Newark, New Jersey and Savannah, Georgia.