Featured in this episode of Chaos Lever
You know, we talk about IT services in government being “critical”, but we sure don’t act like they are. Case in point is the recent ransomware attack on the city of Dallas by the hacker group Royal.
The attack appears to have started on May 3rd and has spread to over 200 devices, according to the city’s Information and Technology Services group. Among the systems impacted are the water department, city courts, the police dispatch system, and several other agencies.
No information on the demanded ransom has been released, but the general policy of US governmental institutions is to not pay. At least not publicly.
Ransomware impacting municipal institutions has been a growing issue over the last few years, rising from 77 attacks in 2021 to 106 in 2022. That trend line does not appear to be going in the right direction.
Maybe instead of fighting dumb legal battles over “woke” policies, these municipal governments could, like, secure their shit. With all the tech layoffs of the past year, there’s got to be some talented InfoSec folks looking for work. Fire lawyers and hire InfoSec, that’s my hot tip of the week.