A series of cyberattacks have been disrupting critical government services across Texas, Tennessee, and Indiana over the past fortnight, with the latest incident targeting Kaufman County, Dallas.
The attack on Kaufman County resulted in the disruption of several country systems, including computers at the county courthouse. However, according to a statement from the County, the Sheriff’s Office and emergency services were not affected.
“Our priority remains the continuity of essential public services and the protection of County systems and information,” Kaufman County Judge Jakie Allen said.
The County has notified appropriate agencies about the attack, and the full extent of the incident is still being assessed.
The attack on Kaufman Country comes shortly after similar incidents affecting the City of La Vergne, Tennessee, and Dekalb County, Indiana.
Earlier this month, La Vergne city officials released a statement announcing that they were investigating a cybersecurity incident that “temporarily disrupted certain computer systems.”
The city took affected systems offline immediately on discovery of the attack and are working with cybersecurity professionals and law enforcement on response, as well as with the FBI and TBI (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation) to investigate the incident.
However, certain systems remain offline, officials say. While water billing and property tax services have resumed this week using manual processes and temporary paper-based procedures, the city’s library and municipal court will remain closed until investigators can examine and verify all computer systems.
The Bigger Picture
Since the government shutdown began at the beginning of the month, the US’s cyber defense agencies have experienced cuts in personnel and resource. Additionally, the expiration of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) has made it more difficult for organizations to share critical threat intelligence.
These events have had a huge impact on local governments, who are currently struggling to combat attacks with less federal support—and less access to threat intelligence information—than they’d usually receive.
