City of Garrison and Nacogdoches ISD investigate recent ransomware attack

NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) - Nacogdoches Independent School District and the city of Garrison are working together to determine whether both entities were hit by the same ransomware attack in recent days, according to the city’s mayor.

Russell Wright, the mayor of Garrison, said the city shut down several computers Monday when signs of an attack appeared. By Wednesday, all data was recovered and the city was functioning with no issues.

The same could not be said about Nacogdoches ISD; hundreds of computers remained shut down Wednesday as a precautionary measure. Technicians began looking over servers and even called in a third-party forensics company to determine what data had been backed up.

A district spokesperson said there were some devices still safe to use.

“Our Chromebooks in the district, which is a different operating system, our flat panels that we’re in the process of installing in classrooms across the district. And then devices like iPads are ok to use,” said Les Linebarger, executive director of communications at NISD. “But if it’s a PC, it’s shut down right now. Probably our teachers and some of our other departments in the district are having to use pencil and paper right now to keep a record of what’s taken place.”

The district’s insurance will reimburse a portion of the cost to hire third-party companies, though, the district has not said how much that might be.

we

Copyright 2020 KTRE. All rights reserved.