0:00
Now to the cyber attack in smalltown
0:03
Texas. For weeks, many people in
0:04
Greenville and Hunt County have been in
0:07
the dark about their utility bills. The
0:09
city says the problem's been fixed, but
0:11
they're still trying to figure out how
0:12
it happened and who did it. Here's
0:19
People living in the city of Greenville
0:21
expressed concern over their utilities
0:23
this summer, not because of billing
0:25
amounts, but because they couldn't even
0:28
see their bills. What should Greenville
0:30
residents expect over the next month?
0:32
So, over the next month, of course, the
0:33
investigation is going to continue on
0:34
between our third party and also law
0:37
On August 5th, a cyber breach was
0:39
identified. The attack disrupted several
0:41
city technology systems, including
0:43
police reports and utility accounts.
0:46
Greenville Electric Utility System
0:48
released a statement saying it could not
0:50
access customer data, issue bills, or
0:52
accept online payments. It went on to
0:55
say the system has since been
0:56
reactivated and customer payments are
0:59
being updated. Daniel Starks with the
1:01
city of Greenville says they haven't
1:03
pinpointed who's behind the attack, but
1:05
the city did pay a ransom.
1:07
Where we're at now is several of our
1:09
things have come back online. The threat
1:10
is over. Now we've voluntarily kept some
1:13
things offline to make sure that if
1:15
anything's still here, um, it could be
1:18
scrubbed and cleaned.
1:18
Experts say attacks on cities are not
1:21
uncommon. Dr. Edward Peters says
1:23
response plans should be reviewed on a
1:27
That is a key part of the whole thing
1:29
and training should be ongoing.
1:31
You have to think about it every day.
1:34
The attack left many residents
1:36
questioning the city's response.
1:38
They feel like the city took too long to
1:41
alert them about the situation, that
1:44
they were left in the dark. How do you
1:46
We have public information requests that
1:48
we're supposed to respond to within a
1:49
certain amount of time. And because our
1:50
network was down, we couldn't answer
1:52
those questions. So, we had to legally
1:54
file something with the attorney
1:56
general's office to let them know we
1:58
have this idea that um they blew the
2:00
whistle on us. That was not the case at
2:02
Stark says the ongoing investigation so
2:05
far found no evidence of any threat to
2:07
customers personal information. In
2:09
Greenville, Candace Sweat, NBC
