Jacksonville, Texas, took some city systems offline after detecting suspicious network activity Friday, leaving some online services unavailable Monday as officials investigated a cybersecurity incident.
The city said it detected the activity July 3 and later determined it was related to a cybersecurity incident. Officials took affected systems offline, disabled some systems as a precaution and launched an investigation into the nature and scope of the incident.
Jacksonville is a Cherokee County city of about 14,600 residents in East Texas, about 110 miles southeast of Dallas, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The city said it was using workarounds where possible while working to restore systems. Third-party cybersecurity specialists were brought in to help address the incident and bring the network back online.
“To proactively protect our systems, we have implemented additional security measures and enhanced monitoring across our network,” City Manager James Hubbard said, according to the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “Our investigation is in its early stages and is ongoing.”
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Hubbard said the city’s priority was protecting city systems, maintaining public safety and keeping services running for residents.
Officials did not identify which systems were unavailable Monday or say whether public-facing services such as payments, permits or public records were affected. They also did not say whether law enforcement was involved or whether any personal data was accessed.
Other Texas cities have reported similar disruptions over the past year. Sugar Land said in October that a cyber event disrupted some online services, including utility bill payment, while 911 remained operational. Greenville later said a ransomware attack cut off access to police and other municipal records.
The city said it would provide updates as the investigation progresses. It did not respond by publication time to questions about which systems were affected, whether public safety services were disrupted, whether any data was accessed, or whether ransomware or a ransom demand was involved.
