City of Dallas employees concerned about data compromised in ransomware attack
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – What is the City of Dallas doing to protect employees whose data was potentially compromised in the ransomware attack that happened earlier this month?
The president of the Dallas Fire Fighters Association says not enough, and he said he's concerned about the repercussions for employees and their families.
There are approximately 14,000 employees of the City of Dallas. Jim McDade said he worries about the personal data of every one of them.
"We've asked the question repeatedly of the administration, city management etc., 'Is our personal information protected?' he said.
Concern mounted after a hacker group claimed responsibility for the ransomware attack on the city and threatened to release data on thousands of Dallas employees.
A letter dated Monday to Dallas's city manager read, in part, "The Dallas Fire Fighters Association and Police Association are demanding that the City of Dallas purchase identity theft protection for all of our members for a period of five years at no cost to the member. We feel that this is necessary and the least the city can do to insure our personal financial information is not compromised."
McDade said the city has not responded to the request.
While the city maintains, "There remains no established evidence of a data leak," McDade said around 20 members have already noticed suspicious activity on online accounts.
"Now they could have been hacked through another source, that's 100% possible," he said. "But, you know, where there's smoke, there's fire. We're firefighters. That's what we know."
Cybersecurity expert Scott Schober said other cities - and companies - can learn from Dallas' debacle. He said more than 80% of these attacks originate from a single phishing email.
"So all it takes it just one mistake for somebody to get in there," he said. "And that's why we keep hearing again and again, 'Be really careful, and have best practices and training within organizations, within municipalities.' So people are not too quick to click."
Some other North Texas cities are now taking extra precautions to avoid an attack. Fort Worth's chief technology officer said, "We sent out reminders to all employees to be vigilant and aware of threats that can come through email, web browsing, text messages and even phone conversations. We have increased monitoring of our computing and communications systems and the sensitivity of the monitoring, looking for indications of a ransomware or other attack."
