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Texas Governments, Get Your Computers Squared Away.


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https://www.pcmag.com/news/370258/ransomware-infects-20-local-government-networks-in-texas
 

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A ransomware attack has infected computers at almost two dozen government agencies in Texas.

The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) first reported the outbreak on Friday, describing it as a "coordinated ransomware attack." The agencies hit were mainly smaller local governments in the Lone Star State.

"At this time, the evidence gathered indicates the attacks came from one single threat actor," the department said in a followup statement on Saturday.

A spokesman for the department declined to name the ransomware strain involved and which cities were hit. But the department confirmed that computers at 23 government entities in the state were infected. How much the hackers are demanding in ransom, and whether the state will pay it, is also unknown, but the department plans to issue an update today or tomorrow, the DIR's spokesman said.

 

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The FBI and security researchers generally advise against paying off the hackers; doing so incentivizes them to strike again and there's no guarantee the encrypted data will be released. Nevertheless, two Florida cities recently recently hit by ransomware decided to pay about $500,000 and $600,000, respectively, rather than risk losing municipal data.

I would both be surprised, and not be surprised, if the City of Austin got hit.

 

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These guys are on it. coordinating with the Big Giant Head at DOE. 

https://cybersecurity.tamu.edu/

Fuck, I was kidding, and then a friend sent this article.

DIR, the Texas Military Department, and the Texas A&M University System's Cyberresponse and Security Operations Center teams are deploying resources to the most critically impacted jurisdictions,' the department said in a statement at the time.

Anyways, article is linked. Says has already cost Texas +12M so far. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7373117/Twenty-three-Texas-towns-hit-coordinated-ransomware-attack-crashed-local-government-ops.html

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6 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

It's a really hard thing to control because people/end users/state employees are such idiots when it comes to email, clicking on links, visiting websites that they shouldn't etc...

 

Careful with the generalizations about us Staties.  We're not all DPS Driver's License Office workers.  And my agency (a big one was spared this time).

Plus, not a lot of state employees in local govt. offices.

But the point is well taken about end users.  That's undoubtedly the weak link, whatever kind of organization it is.

 

Edited by dcbc
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22 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Careful with the generalizations about us Staties.  We're not all DPS Driver's License Office workers.  And my agency (a big one was spared this time).

Plus, not a lot of state employees in local govt. offices.

But the point is well taken about end users.  That's undoubtedly the weak link, whatever kind of organization it is.

 

so if Jim is the guilty party for clicking on a bad link, can we garnish their wages? 

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6 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

It's a really hard thing to control because people/end users/state employees are such idiots when it comes to email, clicking on links, visiting websites that they shouldn't etc...

What if there was somebody in government who flew to Oklahoma to get a Jesus Shot?

That seems like somebody who would click on stupid shit in their emails, right?

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15 hours ago, dcbc said:

Careful with the generalizations about us Staties.  We're not all DPS Driver's License Office workers.  And my agency (a big one was spared this time).

Plus, not a lot of state employees in local govt. offices.

But the point is well taken about end users.  That's undoubtedly the weak link, whatever kind of organization it is.

 

The average state worker isnt the problem, its the dumb fuck executive twat that bitches about not being able to update her pinterest/nextdoor/etsy page from her state issued laptop.

So she gets an exceptjon due to her political clout, and not one day later her shit is on blast.

Thats been the case with the last 15 or so machines I have had to pull due to virus threat.

Edited by MissingInAction
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8 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

The average state worker isnt the problem, its the dumb fuck executive twat that bitches about not being able to update her pinterest/nextdoor/etsy page from her state issued laptop.

So she gets an exceptjon due to her political clout, and not one day later her shit is on blast.

Thats been the case with the last 15 or so machines I have had to pull due to virus threat.

You're definitely not wrong.  I can think of an example.

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Borger and Keene were two of the victims. 

https://www.itpro.co.uk/security/34231/hacked-texas-government-agencies-face-25-million-ransom?_mout=1&utm_campaign=alphr_cloud_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

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"This attack has impacted normal City business and financial operations and services, however, the City has implemented its continuity of operation plans and the City continues to provide basic and emergency services (Police, Fire, 9-1-1, Animal Control, Water, Wastewater and Solid Waste Collection)," said officials from the City of Borger.

"Currently, Vital Statistics (birth and death certificates) remains offline, and the City is unable to take utility or other payments.

"Based on the current state of the forensic investigation, it appears that no customer credit card or other personal information on the City of Borger's systems have been compromised in this attack. No further information about the origins of the attack will be released until the completion of the investigation."

The other city to have spoken out about the attack is Keene, the mayor of which said the hacker used island hopping, an increasingly popular method of cyber attack to breach the city's IT systems.

"They got into our software provider, the guys who run our IT systems," said Keene Mayor Gary Heinrich to NPR. "A lot of folks in Texas use providers to do that, because we don't have a staff big enough to have IT in house."

Heinrich added that many other targeted municipalities also use the same managed service provider (MSP).

 

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At my agency, we have been asking for offsite storage for at least three budget cycles. And we are probably funded better than most government agencies.

This event will probably ensure that we get funded in the next cycle, but that is a year away.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/22/us/florida-ransomware-hacking-it.html

 

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2 hours ago, Orange&White said:

At my agency, we have been asking for offsite storage for at least three budget cycles. And we are probably funded better than most government agencies.

This event will probably ensure that we get funded in the next cycle, but that is a year away.

My office (not government) took on 3 feet of water when the Blano river decided to leave it's banks in 2015. We are ~1/2-3/4 mile from the river, that much water spread out.
You'd think disaster recovery would be a big thing around here after we all had to work out of remote locations for a year while they gutted and rebuilt the downstairs. Yeah, that was a discussion for about 5 minutes until numbers were brought up and then it was thoughts and prayers that another flood doesn't happen.

Edited by relapse98
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