<br><div><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - Inside Texas' fight against a ransomware hack"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">DALLAS — It was the start of a steamy Friday two Augusts ago when Jason Whisler settled in for a working breakfast at the Coffee Ranch restaurant in the Texas Panhandle city of Borger. The most pressing agenda item for city officials that morning: planning for a country music concert and anniversary event.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Then Whisler's phone rang. Borger's computer system had <a target="_blank" href="/story/tech/2020/12/12/hacked-top-cybersecurity-firm-fireeye-says-nation-state-culprit/6511242002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">been hacked</a>.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Workers were frozen out of files. Printers spewed out <a target="_blank" href="/story/tech/2021/06/03/how-does-ransomware-work-colonial-pipeline-jbs-usa-attacks-explainer/7520704002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">demands for money</a>. Over the next several days, residents couldn't pay water bills, the government couldn't process payroll, police officers couldn't retrieve certain records. Across Texas, similar scenes played out in nearly two dozen communities <a target="_blank" href="/story/tech/2020/12/18/cybersecurity-hack-attack-5-things-you-can-do-protect-yourself/3963057001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">hit by a cyberattack</a> officials ultimately tied to a <a target="_blank" href="/story/news/politics/2021/01/05/u-s-formally-links-russia-massive-cyberattack-hack-ongoing/6552803002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Russia-based criminal syndicate</a>.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><strong class="gnt_ar_b_al">►Ransomware:</strong><a target="_blank" href="/story/tech/columnist/2021/07/24/ransomware-tips-what-do-if-you-get-hit-attack/8076023002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">What to do if you're hit by an attack</a></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><strong class="gnt_ar_b_al">►Cybersecurity attacks:</strong><a target="_blank" href="/story/tech/2020/12/18/cybersecurity-hack-attack-5-things-you-can-do-protect-yourself/3963057001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">5 things you can do right now to protect yourself</a></p><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">In 2019, <a target="_blank" href="/story/tech/columnist/2021/07/24/ransomware-tips-what-do-if-you-get-hit-attack/8076023002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">ransomware</a> had yet to emerge as one of the top national security concerns confronting the United States, an issue that would become the focus of a presidential summit between Washington and Moscow this year. But the attacks in Texas were a harbinger of the <a target="_blank" href="/story/news/2021/05/13/colonial-pipeline-hack-latest-rising-threat-ransomware-attacks/5071254001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">now-exploding threat</a> and offer a vivid case study in what happens behind the scenes when small-town America comes under attack.</p><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Texas communities struggled for days with disruptions to core government services as workers in small cities and towns endured a cascade of frustrations brought on by the sophisticated cyberattack, according to...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2021/07/26/texas-ransomware-attack-impact-cyberattack-cybersecurity-small-town-america/8090316002/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>
