An attorney representing the Tarrant Appraisal District says the agency received a ransom demand for $700,000 from a group of hackers taking responsibility for last week’s attack on their computer network.
The ransom demand was revealed during an emergency board meeting on Monday afternoon about the “criminal ransomware attack” that took down the agency’s network last week.
The hackers have not identified themselves, but the TAD suspects it was a group known as Medusa.
The TAD said in a statement Friday that after learning of the network disruption they took steps to secure their network and worked with cybersecurity experts to determine the cause of a network disruption and how to restore services. That investigation, the agency said Friday, revealed the ransomware attack.
“Our investigation has confirmed that the Tarrant Appraisal District has been the victim of a criminal ransomware attack,” the agency said in a statement Friday afternoon. “We have reported this incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Texas Department of Information Resources and will cooperate with any resulting investigation.”
If the ransom is not paid, the hackers have said they’ll release personal information. On Monday, the TAD said they “can not confirm” whether taxpayer info was compromised in the attack, but said they’re investigating around the clock.
As of Monday afternoon, the TAD’s website is up though users still cannot search the database and retrieve account information. TAD operations are being brought back online by priority, but it’s unclear when all systems will be fully up and running.
The Tarrant Appraisal District assigns property values for ad valorem taxation purposes for jurisdictions throughout Tarrant County and its website is routinely used by property owners and real estate agents.
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