Ransomware

As the city restores in-house tech systems following last week's attempted ransomware attack, Independence, Mo., officials have not said whether the attack compromised personal information for utility customers.

Despite the approval of $4 million in ongoing technology upgrades to prevent cyberattacks, the city was hit with ransomware earlier this month. It's unclear what kind of information might have been compromised.

The attack, which occurred over the weekend, resulted in "technical difficulties and disruption to multiple services" but was discovered and halted "before it could infect the full city network," the city manager said.

Experts say cyberattacks on public school systems are on the rise around the country. Just days after a Baltimore County attack, schools in Alabama were also shut down by a ransomware incident.

Officials have been tight-lipped about what happened, saying an investigation is ongoing and they are working closely with state and federal law enforcement and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency to investigate.

A ransomware attack on election-related government computers in a Georgia county raises the specter of more disruptions for Election Day voting and vote tabulation.

Hospitals and health-care systems across the nation and in Massachusetts are facing increased ransomware threats, federal law enforcement and cybersecurity agencies warned, urging organizations to prepare.

A recent ransomware attack that took over some Hall County, Ga., election information will apparently not harm other election systems in the state, according to the secretary of state's office.

The attack primarily targeted the county's email system and was likely compromised by a remote login, the use of which has significantly increased since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, an official said.

The Lake George Land Conservancy reported that hackers had locked data within its internal system in a recent attack, but officials say no ransom was paid because the lost data had been backed up.

Responding to a flurry of online concern about the fact that the company makes software for posting election results, Tyler Technologies said that product isn’t hosted on the network that got hit.

The Texas Department of Information Resources has negotiated a partnership with cybersecurity firm FireEye and will now be able to offer affordable security services to state and local agencies.

The Georgia entity in charge of the stewardship of Jekyll Island was targeted by a ransomware attack last week. Officials reported that the cyberattack was isolated and systems were restored.

A different sort of virus — ransomware — has taken down the computer system at the Newhall School District, forcing a shutdown of distance learning for some 6,000 elementary school students, officials said.

With the fall semester in full swing, schools across the nation continue to struggle with the new technology issues that distance learning brings, including ransomware attacks and downed fiber lines.

Of all the cyberattacks that affect state and local governments, ransomware is one of the most ubiquitous and costly. Now security researchers fear it could also become a political weapon in the upcoming election.

Hackers targeting school systems was on the uptick even before COVID, with 348 publicly disclosed school cyberincidents in 2019. The reliance on digital learning has made them an even bigger target.

Several institutions in the state were indirectly affected by a ransomware attack against the global cloud software company Blackbaud. The company serves nonprofits, universities, foundations and other organizations.