Government agencies across the state are under cyber-attack

Austin (WBAP/KLIF) – Texas state officials say at least 20 government agencies throughout the state have been attacked by hackers. They describe the onslaught as a “coordinated ransomware attack.” Several state agencies combined their efforts to respond, including the Division of Emergency Management, and the Texas Military Department. The state has not said exactly what agencies were attacked, nor has it said how effective the ransomware demands have been. Recent reports have said such attackers focus on planting malicious code inside municipal agencies’ information systems, then inhibit computer access to those systems until they’re paid off, and the payoff demands are almost always in bitcoin because it’s almost untraceable.