City of Dallas says it has 99.9% recovered from massive cyberattack in new extensive report
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — In its first extensive report about the massive cyberattack and data breach on its servers, the City of Dallas says it has 99.9% recovered.
But the volume of digital files and personal information stolen amounted to 1.169 terabytes, which experts say adds up to hundreds of thousands of files.
Dallas Fire Fighters Association President Jim McDade said the cyberattack impaired public safety for months and subjected police officers and his fellow firefighters to identity theft.
"I think a lot of us have noticed a definite uptick in spam phone calls, spam emails and things like that," McDade said.
He said the city's police and fire associations met Tuesday to consider filing a lawsuit against the City of Dallas for exposing their personal information, along with their families.
"We want to make sure that our members are fully protected now, and in the future," McDade said.
The city's report on the attack says nearly a 1,000 computers were infected and the personal information of over 30,000 people compromised.
The report recommends the city spend $8.5 million to upgrade and better protect its computer network.
Nonetheless, cyber security expert Andrew Sternke said with the theft of so much personal information, the hackers already have everything they need to break into the system again if they want to.
"With that information, they could use various social engineering tactics to get into the systems," Sternke said. "They can pretend that they are the fire chief and use his personal identifiable information to get into the system."
