Ransomware Attack Closes Down Texas Town

Ransomware Attack Closes Down Texas Town

The City of Del Rio was forced to return to pen and paper when a ransomeware attack rendered City Hall useless.

Officials in the City of Del Rio, Texas were forced to abandon electronic services after a ransomeware attack effectively closed down City Hall servers. 

City representatives disclosed the cyberattack last week, stating the city was struck by ransomeware on Thursday, leading to all servers being disabled to prevent further spread.

Del Rio's Management Information Services (MIS) Department then attempted to isolate the malware by turning off Internet connections for other city departments. In turn, this prevented any members of staff from logging into government systems.

As a result, employees of each department were forced to use pen and paper in their work and go back to manual entry for transactions taking place while the ransomeware was contained.

It is not known at this time who is behind the ransomeware, what kind of malware is at fault, or whether any personal data has been compromised.

Mike Bittner, digital security & operations manager at The Media Trust, said the growing number of exploits and malware at their disposal is emboldening malicious actors to attack organizations with a rich trove of consumer data.

"Government organizations, in particular city governments, are prime targets; they not only process a lot of citizen and business data, but are also less secure as tighter budgets severely limit what IT updates they can carry out," Bittner said. "Bad actors have no doubt put the 89,000 local governments across the country in their cross-hairs. It is just a matter of time before many of these governments realize they’ve been hacked."

City officials have informed the FBI of the cyberattack and Secret Service has now become involved in attempts to find out who is responsible.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

Featured

New Products

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.

  • Hanwha QNO-7012R

    Hanwha QNO-7012R

    The Q Series cameras are equipped with an Open Platform chipset for easy and seamless integration with third-party systems and solutions, and analog video output (CVBS) support for easy camera positioning during installation. A suite of on-board intelligent video analytics covers tampering, directional/virtual line detection, defocus detection, enter/exit, and motion detection.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.