Nevada officials announced that the state has been targeted in “a sophisticated ransomware-based cybersecurity attack,” with federal partners working closely with state officials as they respond to the incident.
Tim Galluzi, Nevada’s state chief information officer (CIO), said the state identified the cyberattack on Sunday, Aug. 24. Galluzi said his team responded immediately, isolating, and taking certain systems offline.
On Wednesday, Aug. 27, Galluzi said during a press conference that evidence shows “some data” has been moved outside of the state’s network.
“As part of our commitment to transparency with the people of Nevada, I must disclose that our ongoing forensic investigation has found evidence that indicates some data has been exfiltrated or moved outside the state network by the malicious actors,” Galluzi said.
“I need to be very clear on the next point. At this stage of our intensive investigation, we cannot yet identify or classify the specific nature of this data,” he added.
The CIO said that the state is working closely with federal partners, adding that “their immediate deployment of resources demonstrates a unified commitment to defending our state’s infrastructure.”
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a statement on Aug. 27 noting that the agency, along with its public and private sector partners, is providing real-time incident response to the state of Nevada.
The agency said it advised on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) emergency response grants and other available assistance. Additionally, CISA said the FBI is assisting in the investigation.
“As America’s cyber defense agency, CISA is leading federal coordination with our state and local partners to restore necessary critical services as the state of Nevada responds to and recovers from this incident,” said Madhu Gottumukkala, CISA’s acting director.
“CISA is fully committed to providing cybersecurity services and expertise to the state of Nevada as long as necessary. This unified response is an example of operational collaboration in real time,” Gottumukkala said.
