Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cybersecurity topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Richardson officials describe September cyberattack and point to $5 million IT capital allocation to bolster defenses
Summary
City leaders said an attempted server encryption in September was blocked quickly; the city cited prior investments and a $5 million budget allocation for IT upgrades as part of ongoing risk mitigation.
Mayor Bob Dubey told the State of the City audience that Richardson experienced a cybersecurity incident on Sept. 25 in which an outside party gained access to city servers and attempted to encrypt them.
"Upon investigation, they discovered an external party had gained access to our servers and attempted to encrypt them," Mayor Bob Dubey said, describing the early-morning incident and crediting on-site IT staff with detecting and blocking the attack.
Why it matters: Local governments are frequent targets of cybercriminals, and municipal disruptions can affect 911, utility billing and other resident services. City officials said the incident had minimal operational impact because of recent investments and on-site staff who were already present to install new equipment.
Dubey said last year’s approved budget included $5,000,000 for capital replacements and other IT updates, and he said the council and mayor recognized the IT team for restoring systems. City officials did not provide a detailed timeline of recovery steps or disclose the attacker’s identity.
Ending: Officials said the city will continue investing in IT infrastructure to reduce the risk of future incidents. No formal policy changes or procurement contracts were announced during the address.
