The big, bolded, blue message at the top of Sugar Land's website instantly lets people know something is wrong. The statement reads that the city was hit with a cyber event, and is working with law enforcement.
Because of it, certain services, including utility bill payment, and permitting is down. ABC13 asked Lonestar Forensic Group's managing director, Eric Devlin, about what could've happened.
"If you're not sure exactly what's occurred, you will call it a cyber event," Devlin explained. "If you know that you're being attacked, being hacked, or breached, they'll sometimes call it either way. The language can be changed either way."
Devlin said just because services are down doesn't mean the data was breached. If they were, he said he city should tell neighbors.
"If there's any indication that occurs, and it doesn't even have to be absolute proof, that it has occurred, they are required to provide notice," Devlin said. "If they don't provide notice, they're actually liable for it."
ABC13 pressed city leaders for that information. We asked when the breach occurred, and if sensitive data was compromised.
A spokesperson says it took nearly 13 hours between the time something happened to the system, and neighbors were alerted. As far as sensitive data, we're told they can't say due to the investigation.
Devlin said cyber criminal target governments because of information it stores. Because of this he says it's important for governments to invest in cyber security.
"It's a constant fight," Devlin explained. "It's one of those things where they have to invest quite a bit of money."
An investment that the Fort Bend County library system knows well. County officials told ABC13 that it spent nearly $6 million coming back from a cyberattack earlier this year.
Our records request revealed emails that show the library suffered a massive ransomware attack that compromised everything. Experts say that incidents are reminders that neighbors should be careful what they store on any website.
"There's always a possibility if you choose to store it, your information could be breached in there," Devlin explained. "If you really want to be safe, don't store the information in there. I shop online like a lot of other people do, and I don't generally store my information."
As of now, experts said Sugar Land neighbors should monitor their accounts and wait for future, bolded, blue messages to see what happened in this latest cyber event.
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