At least 23 Texas towns have been affected by a coordinated ransomware attack, state officials said Monday.
Reports of the attacks started coming in last Friday morning, and the state activated its State Operations Center, which responds to emergency situations. The state initially heard from about 20 entities, mostly local governments. That number has grown to 23.
It's unclear how the ransomware attacks are impacting the small local governments that were targeted, but an update on the attacks from the state said responders are working to bring their systems back online. The state also brought on the Texas Military Department and the Texas A&M University System’s Cyberresponse and Security Operations Center to help with the response.
Ransomware attacks have become commonplace at local governments, as well as businesses, across the nation. Attacks on government systems in Georgia, New York, Louisiana, Maryland and Florida have shut down systems, disrupted public services and cost millions of dollars.
The attacks often originate from a link in an email, often disguised as an attachment from an apparently trustworthy source. The links typically allow the attackers to access critical systems connected to the user's computer and then holds them hostage -- usually demanding cryptocurrency in exchange for release of the data.
Texas officials say the new attacks on local governments appear to come from a single person or entity. It says investigations into the origin of the attack is ongoing.
It wasn't immediately clear which Texas cities had been affected by the attacks.
Editor's Note: We will update as more information becomes available.
