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At least 20 local government entities across Texas have been held hostage by a coordinated ransomware attack, the Texas Department of Information Resources announced Friday.
The specific agencies and their jurisdictions were not disclosed, and the ministry did not specify whether the cybercriminals had specified an amount to be paid in ransom.
Ransomware is a type of malware, or malware, that locks a computer and all of its data until a user pays a specified amount to regain control of the system. Hackers usually ask for payment in a virtually untraceable digital currency, such as Bitcoin. Once the ransom is paid, a key is unlocked to unlock the computer. Ransomware unknowingly spread through infected websites and phishing or spam emails.
RANSOMWARE IS A SELLER ON HACKERS UNDERGROUND FORUMS
Texas DIR press officer Elliot Sprehe told KUT Radio that the department was still gathering information about the attack.
"It looks like we discovered it earlier in the day, but we are not releasing for the moment the people affected by security problems," he told the channel on Friday.
The Cyberresponse and Security Operations Center at Texas Military Department and Texas A & M University System respond to the most affected areas, the state's computer department said.
THE CITY OF ATLANTA ATTEMPTED BY THE ATTACK OF RANSOMWARE
"DIR is fully committed to responding quickly to this event and providing the resources needed to bring these entities back online," he added.
Texas is not the first state to be a victim of ransomware attacks. It's not uncommon for hackers to require up to six-digit sums in order to get government IT systems up and running, and it's not uncommon for cities to actually pay. the ransom.
BALTIMORE REACHED BY ATTACK BY RANSOMWARE, CAUSING OFFICIALS TO CLOSE CITY SERVERS
For example, CNBC reported in June that Baltimore had spent millions of dollars to regain access to its networks as a result of ransomware attacks.
And in two Florida cities, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent to access their local government networks again.
CITY OF FLORIDA DECIDES TO PAY RANSOMWARE HACKERS
In Riviera Beach, Florida, the city paid $ 600,000 in ransom. Lake City, located west of Jacksonville, has spent nearly half a million dollars to get the unlock of its data.
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The FBI estimates that more than 4,000 ransomware attacks have occurred each day since January 1, 2016, representing a 300% increase over the estimated 1,000 daily attacks in 2015.
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