Tag Archive for: Dallas

Dallas pays millions for ransomware expenses after May attack – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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The Dallas City Council Wednesday agreed to pay $8.5 million for expenses related to the ransomware attack first revealed in May.

Officials have declined to say publicly if any ransom is included in the expenses so far. And, it is unclear just how many residents may be impacted by leaked city data.

Officials did confirm Wednesday that 27,000 city employees, retirees and their dependents have received notices that their social security and medical information was accessed.

Dallas Firefighters Association President Jim McDade said he received a letter for himself but also one for his son.

“My son is 10. Now I have to worry for the next however long that something is going to be done with his information,” McDade said.

Southern Methodist University Cyber Security Expert Mitch Thornton said that worry is justified.

“I do see his concern and agree with it,” Thornton said.

Cybercriminals may demand ransom from targets like the city of Dallas to restore hacked operations but they may also profit by financial fraud with the data they steal.

“They can use it themselves to try and open credit lines. Or typically they would post this information or the availability of it on the dark web and then sell it to other criminals,” Thornton said.

In May, the city struggled to get crucial operations like emergency dispatch working again.  City courts and many other functions were crippled.

Details were left unclear about the $8.5 million approved Wednesday except for a general description of expenses for software, hardware, forensics experts and two years of credit monitoring for people now getting those letters.

There may be more people connected to the leaked city-data.

“Or even, general residents of the city. What message should we be sharing with them,” Councilmember Jaynie Schultz said.

The one official providing answers in public Wednesday was Assistant City Manager John Fortune.

“So I would just say, this is still an ongoing investigation. We’re still evaluating the magnitude of those individuals who might have been impacted,” Fortune said.

The council went to a closed-door executive session to discuss additional issues regarding the…

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Dallas City Council approves $8.6 million in payments for ransomware attack response

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The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved nearly $8.6 million in payments for services related to the ransomware attack earlier this year, including credit monitoring for potential identity theft victims.

The council asked no questions about the payments before unanimously approving the agenda item. The names of the vendors receiving the money, how much each vendor is getting, and what specific services were provided were not laid out in any publicly available documents. A list of what the money is being set aside for was provided to The Dallas Morning News by Deputy City Manager Jon Fortune after the council meeting.

Fortune told the council during the meeting that the city mailed about 27,000 letters starting last week notifying mostly current and former employees, such as retirees, that their data was exposed and that the city is offering credit monitoring because of it.

The $8.6 million is coming from two different city reserve funds to pay invoices to vendors for new hardware, software, consultants, monitoring and other professional services described as emergency purchases made because of the cyberattack, according to city documents.

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According to the city, the money is going toward:

– New storage devices, servers, laptops, desktop computers and mobile dispatch computers for police and fire vehicles to replace ones that were compromised or damaged in the ransomware attack.

– Temporary staff who aided in the city’s recovery efforts.

– Credit monitoring services, identity protection, call center and notification support.

– Forensic accounting.

– Recovery and restoration services for city applications and systems.

– Installation for new hardware and equipment.

– New and additional software licenses to enhance the city’s cybersecurity, response and recovery efforts.

The city is planning to file insurance claims and put any reimbursement received into its general fund contingency reserve, which is 65% of the funding source for these invoice payments. The rest is from the city’s liability reserve fund.

The payment approval comes three months after the city announced being hit with a ransomware attack on May 3.

It…

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Children among 26,000 people impacted by Dallas ransomware attack, city employee says

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DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — On Tuesday, the City of Dallas disclosed that over 26,000 people were affected by a ransomware attack that occurred three months ago.

In early May, hackers accessed names, addresses, medical data and other information through city government servers. 

A group called “Royal” later claimed they encrypted the city’s critical data and threatened to post sensitive information online. Their alleged cyber intrusion also impacted 911 dispatch services for police and fire departments, municipal courts, water utilities and other services.

An image of the ransomware note obtained by J.D. Miles

City of Dallas


As a whole, 26,212 people were affected. And CBS News Texas has since learned that some city employees are already reporting identity theft. What’s more is that some of their children have also had their personal information stolen.

“Unfortunately, it was what I expected,” said Dallas Fire Fighters Association President Jim McDade. “That’s why I took out the identity theft protection back in May.”

McDade—whose personal information was also compromised—said his 1,500 members have been outraged at what they believe has been a sluggish response by the city.

On top of that, he said his 10-year-old son and the children and spouses of other city employees have had their information stolen, too.

Cyber security expert Andrew Sternke said if children have been victimized, it can haunt them into adulthood.

“This information is released out onto the dark web to be sold,” Sternke said. “When that kid turns 18, it’s a free-for-all and that’s another concerning aspect: that it’s not just the adults we have to worry about.”

Those concerns prompted the city to release a statement defending the time it took to report its findings…

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Dallas police crime data back online – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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Dallas Police crime numbers are back online for the first time since a ransomware attack crippled city computers in May. The numbers show homicide is up 10% so far this year with 150 reported as of Wednesday morning.

But that’s less than the 20% homicide was up in May. And overall, Dallas’s violent crime keeps falling according to the new report.

But some families still face grief.

People who loved her are mourning the July 20 death of 22-year-old Lusero Guzman.

One of her closest friends, Marisol, who did not want her last name used, said she was on the phone with Lusero during one of many fights with Lusero’s boyfriend, who was also the father of her children.

“And the next call I received, it was her phone but his voice saying I shot her. And she’s dead. And I was in shock,” Marisol said.

Police charged 29-year-old Eric Thomas with the murder.

“It’s just hard, hard to lose someone like that, especially so young, and her kids so young,” Marisol said.

The most recent Dallas homicide was around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night on East Illinois Avenue.

A man with a gunshot wound was taken to a hospital where he died.  The victim’s name was not available Wednesday as police looked for the shooter.

Dallas City Council Member Cara Mendelsohn serves on committees that deal with city information technology and with police.

“We still have a lot of shootings so even though those numbers are down, they need to go down further,” Mendelsohn said.

Police officials said reports that stacked up since the ransomware attack have not been entered to produce the updated data.

On May 16th, Chief Eddie Garcia warned that the lack of current data hurt crime fighting.

“To be honest with you it’s problematic. It’s severely impacting our ability to plan for what we’re trying to do. So, we’re going off historical data,” Garcia said.

Now the report shows overall violent crime is down 11% on top of reductions last year.  It suggests police had success without the constant flow of data.

Mendelsohn said citizens also appreciate the data.

“It’s always nice when you show a report where crime is way down so I think we’re all happy to see…

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