Tag Archive for: tyler
UT Tyler proposes new cyber security degree program after FBI notices increase in ransomware attacks
TYLER, Texas (KETK)- Many East Texas businesses and employees were forced to work online from home because of the pandemic and cyber hackers are taking advantage of that right now.
“A ransomware attacks a business every 11 seconds,” said FBI Special Agent, Matthew DeSarno. “We’ve seen an increase in cyber attacks against private sectors, companies, critical infrastructure, government agencies, supply chain attacks, intellectual property theft, and ransomware attacks. I mean, the stakes could not be much higher than they are.”
These cyber criminals are using phishing, extortion, and other internet fraud and profiting from our dependence on technology since the pandemic.
The FBI is currently investigating over 100 types of ransomware in Texas. The global ransomware damage costs are predicted to reach $20 billion by the end of this year, causing the FBI to issue this warning.
“If you are a small business owner and you get hit with what you believe to be ransomware, and you can’t access your data, and all of a sudden there’s some bad guy asking you for a ransom. We recommend you don’t pay the ransom,” said DeSarno.
Two East Texas school districts, Whitehouse and Lufkin ISD, were hit with cyber security attacks earlier this year. Pilgrim’s Pride in Nacogdoches and their parent company, JBS also were victims.
UT Tyler is proposing a new degree program in cyber security and data analytics to help address the shortage of cyber professionals.
“This program is really about giving the opportunity for people all over East Texas and beyond to be able to get some real good grounding information and studies in cybersecurity and data analytics,” said Computer Science Professor Dr. Tom Roberts.
This course offers the opportunity to take up to 27 hours in cyber security and nine hours in data analytics or vice versa. The course will be completely online for anyone who is interested.
Texas courts sign $98M contract with Tyler Technologies for case filing
Written by Benjamin Freed
Tyler Technologies, a major seller of government software, announced last week a new five-year contract with the Texas court system to run its electronic filing services.
The agreement, worth $98 million, is the largest in Tyler’s corporate history, and will keep the company as the e-filing vendor for criminal and civil courts across all of Texas’ 254 counties through at least 2027. The Texas Office of Court Administration has partnered with Tyler since 2012, when the state first implemented its e-filing requirements, which went statewide for civil cases in 2015 and for criminal proceedings in 2019.
Tyler’s initial contract was due to expire in 2022. The five-year agreement announced last week also includes an option to extend the e-filing system another five years through 2032.
Since Texas required electronic filing in all cases, the Office of Court Administration says it has reduced paper waste by about 420 million sheets, according to a press release.
““Electronic filing has been key to the Texas Judiciary’s ability to overcome disasters from hurricanes, to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to a ransomware attack,” David Slayton, the Office of Courts Administration’s administrative director, said in the press release.
The ransomware incident Slayton referred to occurred last May, prompting officials to take down individual courts’ websites and shut off internal file servers. However, the cloud-based electronic filing system was not impacted and allowed parties to continue submitting documents through the outage.
Tyler itself was the victim of a ransomware incident last September, though no evidence has been presented that it was related to the Texas courts attack.
The new contract beginning in 2022 also includes several upgrades to the filing system, including new self-service administrative tools for its roughly 425,000 users, reporting capabilities for court administrators and clerks and document checks to reduce the number of court filings that are returned to the filing party for corrections. It will also expand the variety of file formats…
Govt. Services Firm Tyler Technologies Hit in Apparent Ransomware Attack – Krebs on Security
Govt. Services Firm Tyler Technologies Hit in Apparent Ransomware Attack Krebs on Security
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