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DALLAS (AP) – More than 20 local Texas governments have been targeted in a ransomware attack of unprecedented magnitude, but several cities have resumed normal operations in a few days, officials said. 39; State.
The Texas Information Resources Department said in a statement that it felt that only one source was behind all 22 attacks. He did not name the affected cities nor provide details of the attacker's requests.
The Texas attack resembles others that have paralyzed digital operations in cities across the country in recent years, said Elliott Sprehe, spokesman for the department.
"Once activated, your computer is blocked until you pay the requested ransom," he said.
Cybersecurity experts said the number of cities affected by the Texas attack far exceeded the attacks of individual systems owned by cities, counties, and state agencies in recent years .
The best recourse for victims of a ransomware attack is to restore the captive systems from a backup backed up, assuming they have one, said Brian Calkin, chief technology officer. for the Center for Internet Security. Otherwise, managers must decide to pay the ransom or rebuild their system from scratch.
"Ransomware is mostly opportunistic," said Calkin. "They throw a net as wide as possible and want to see who they can catch and make compromises."
State and federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, are working with the affected Texas cities. Sprehe refused to give more details on the number of cities that have returned to normal activity or the details of their recovery.
In Keene, a community of about 6,000 people about 72 km southwest of Dallas, the attack destroyed all the municipal computers and left the city unable to process credit card payments, Landis Adams said. , director of economic development of the city.
City staff first noticed server problems early Friday morning and the computers of his 50 or so employees have been unusable since then, he said.
Adams said that he did not know what the attacker had asked and that he could not provide a lot of detail because of the ongoing investigation. Keene residents can still pay their bills in person at the city offices and the public works department manually monitors the municipal water system as a precaution, he said.
He said that the attack so far has affected more staff than residents, but that he has "absolutely no idea" when it will be resolved.
The panhandle city of Borger said in a statement posted on Facebook that the attack on its computers had occurred on Friday and initially prevented municipal employees from accepting payments and accessing vital documents, including birth certificates and death. On Tuesday, the city said it still could not accept credit card payments, but workers could access its servers and data.
Police, firefighters and 911 helpdesks have not been affected and city officials do not believe that a credit card or personal information has been compromised. City officials did not immediately respond to Tuesday's messages asking for comments.
An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment on the investigation.
Ransomware often spreads through e-mails containing malicious links or attachments, or by visiting a compromised website. According to the FBI, more than 1,400 ransomware attacks were reported last year and victims reportedly paid $ 3.6 million to hackers.
Trying to prevent such attacks is "a continuous cat and mouse game" for governments of all sizes, Sprehe said.
Baltimore is one of the US cities targeted by ransomware attacks. Authorities refused to claim about US $ 76,000 in bitcoins to restore access to its computer network. Last year, federal prosecutors indicted two Iranian men for ransomware attacks on more than 200 victims, including the cities of Atlanta and Newark, New Jersey, which earned them more than $ 6 million and cost more than $ 30 million to the companies and governments concerned.
In June, several Florida cities paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to hackers who encrypted records, deactivated their email systems, and blocked their ability to pay employees and suppliers by direct deposit.
Sprehe said he did not know if any of the affected Texas municipalities had planned to yield to the attacker's ransom demand.
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