Justice Department indicts suspect in ransomware attacks on Texas cities

The U.S. Justice Department recently announced charges against an alleged affiliate of the REvil ransomware group suspected in ransomware attacks across the U.S., including the 23 Texas municipalities hit in August 2019, according to the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR).

Within one week of the attacks, DIR coordinated with state and federal response partners to investigate, contain, eradicate, and support the transition to recovery for the Texas victims.

A Russian national is charged with conducting Sodinokibi/REvil ransomware attacks against multiple victims, including businesses and government entities in Texas around August 16, 2019.

Federal authorities announced they seized $6.1 million from the suspect in funds traceable to alleged ransom payments he received from separate attacks.

Although no Texas entities paid the ransom, 23 Texas municipalities were impacted by a coordinated ransomware attack that interrupted their ability to conduct business, including process licenses and certificates, collect payment for services, and conduct payroll activities.

As many of the impacted entities are smaller local governments with limited incident response resources, the state stepped in to support the response to this attack.

Officials at the city of Keene reported the attack shut down their computer systems, rendering them unable to process credit card payments.

Source: Strategic Partnerships