A cybersecurity breach in Greenville has affected the city鈥檚 ability to access police and other records.
The city鈥檚 servers were attacked by a ransomware group on Aug. 5.
鈥淯pon identification, the City immediately implemented protective measures, isolated affected systems where appropriate, contacted law enforcement and engaged a third-party cybersecurity firm to mitigate the event and restore services,鈥� the city said in a news release.
Greenville鈥檚 emergency 911 service was not affected and remains in operation, however, some phone lines may experience intermittent outages or busy signals, the city said.
Greenville Electric Utility System (GEUS), the city鈥檚 utilities provider, was impacted and currently cannot accept online payments and access to billing information.
"They have paused shutoffs for the time being and they鈥檙e not doing any late fees,鈥� said Daniel Starks, communications manager for the city. 鈥淲hat they鈥檙e allowing residents to do is pay in person.鈥�
Residents who over-pay will get credit on their next bill and if they under-pay, they will be charged for the rest of it in the next bill, he said.
There is no evidence that information belonging to employees or residents was affected by the breach, according to the city鈥檚 statement.
Greenville filed a catastrophe notice with the Texas Attorney General鈥檚 office, noting it will not be able to respond to approximately 20 Public Information Act requests until access to records is restored. 鈥淭hey may be available as early as tomorrow (8.26.2025) but it may still be weeks until the files are accessible,鈥� the notice reads.
Ransomware attacks on city governments have become more common in recent years. The city of Dallas spent millions of dollars for more cybersecurity after it was hit in 2023 by an attack that froze its systems for weeks and compromised the personal data of more than 30,000 residents.
Last year a ransomware group demanded $700,000 from the Tarrant County Appraisal District before hackers posted private taxpayer data to the dark web.
Priscilla Rice is 四虎影院鈥檚 communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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