Tarrant Co. Appraisal District ransomware attackers demanding $700K
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Tarrant Appraisal District board held an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the impact of a recent ransomware attack.
The ransomware attackers who took control of the appraisal district's systems are demanding $700,000 and threatening to release sensitive information.
Last week, the appraisal district’s website crashed for the second time in two weeks.
The first incident was blamed on a database failure. The district launched a new site in response to that, but it failed again this past Thursday.
Over the weekend, the appraisal district confirmed that it is the victim of a criminal ransomware attack.
"You’re not going to make me or anybody else feel better by telling us things are better than they actually are. I want to know the hard unvarnished truth," said relator Chandler Crouch during public comment at an emergency meeting on Monday.
"The citizens of Tarrant County deserve better, and you must do better," said property owner Jerald Miller.
The attack was reported to the FBI and the district said it is working with cybersecurity experts to safely and securely restore operations. That includes restoring phone and email operations.
Tarrant County Appraisal District’s new website crashes
The Tarrant County Appraisal District’s website crashed Thursday for the second time in two weeks.
The appraisal district is responsible for all property tax appraisals and exemptions across Tarrant County. Its website is essential during tax notice season.
On Monday, board members reacted to some possible scenarios depending on how much data was compromised.
"In April, if all goes well, notices are going to come out on valuations, and we’ll repeat the cycle with taxpayers unhappy with their values. If we can’t even tell them what their values should be, we got a major problem on our hands," said TAD boardmember Gary Losada.
Some who have been outspoken throughout several TAD public controversies in the past several years believe cuber security should've been a higher priority.
"TAD has become experts in concealment, lack of transparency and not providing accurate information and doing things. The horse is always out of the gate with them before they close the barn door and that's the continuing issue," said Miller.
"I do have faith they’re going to do whatever it takes, I’m just concerned at what cost," said Crouch.
An investigation into the attack is ongoing.
A private security firm working with TAD says there's no firm confirmation that the attackers actually have control of sensitive information they're claiming to have.