July 11, 2024 at 01:18PM
Dallas County recently notified over 200,000 individuals of a Play ransomware attack in October 2023, which exposed their personal data. The attack led to the exposure of various sensitive information including names, social security numbers, and medical data. Dallas is taking steps to strengthen its cybersecurity following a series of recent incidents.
From the meeting notes, the key takeaways are:
1. Dallas County experienced a Play ransomware attack in October 2023, impacting over 200,000 individuals including residents, employees, and others who interacted with its public services.
2. The leaked data included sensitive personal information such as full names, Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses, and medical information.
3. Impacted individuals will receive two years of credit monitoring and identity theft protection services if their SSNs or taxpayer identification numbers were exposed.
4. Dallas County has taken steps to strengthen its network security, including implementing Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions, forcing password resets, and blocking malicious/suspicious IP addresses.
5. Dallas County’s cybersecurity struggles were further highlighted by recent incidents, such as a social engineering attack in November 2023 and a breach from Royal ransomware affecting the City of Dallas in May 2023.
These takeaways provide a comprehensive overview of the ransomware attack, the impact on individuals’ personal data, and the security measures and incidents experienced by Dallas County and the City of Dallas.