Texas Agencies Hit with Ransomware
The Texas Department of Transportation was hit by a ransomware attack that knocked some of its website features offline. Reports credit ransomware with the incident, which followed a similar attack on the state’s Office of Court Administration earlier this month. Department of Information Resources (DIR) officials, as well as the FBI, are assisting in incident response.

Unemployment Sites Unknowingly Exposed PII
And in another sign of the cybertimes, state unemployment agencies, flush with federal dollars and inundated with applicants, are showing vulnerabilities. The Arkansas unemployment site temporarily went dark earlier this month after it was discovered that personal information from about 30,000 residents had been exposed. A similar incident affecting the Illinois Pandemic Unemployment Assistance system was also brought to light this week. It is unknown at this time whether the exposed data was accessed by cybercriminals.

Can Buses Operate on Demand?
As the fallout from COVID-19 continues to be felt in every sector of the economy, a county in Kansas is making some moves in regard to transit. Noting declines in ridership for certain routes, Johnson County, Kan., officials are scaling back service to save money while preserving service to the community. What will replace fixed route service is a more flexible model in which riders hail a bus as they need it using an app. 

Upping the Ante on Broadband
One clear takeaway from the pandemic from the vantage point of technology is the fundamental necessity of the Internet to modern life. Working and schooling from home has underlined existing inequity and channeled more attention to closing the gap. GT’s Jed Pressgrove looked at efforts underway to ensure robust connectivity options in Massachusetts, Colorado and Kansas.