Knoxville shuts down parts of its network after being hit by ransomware

Enlarge / The Knoxville City-County Building, overlooking the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tennessee. (credit: Brian Stansberry)

The city of Knoxville, Tennessee, shut down large portions of its computer network on Thursday after being hit overnight by a ransomware attack, it was widely reported on Thursday.

The attack was first noticed by members of the Knoxville Fire Department around 4:30am Thursday, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. Shortly after that, Knoxville Chief Operations Officer David Brace sent employees an email notifying them of the breach.

Please be advised that our network has been attacked with ransomware," he wrote. Information Systems is currently following recommend[ed] protocols. This includes shutting down servers, our internet connections and PC's. Please do not log in to the network or use computer applications at this time."

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments