2023 saw major Texas industries, including healthcare and finance, suffer massive cyberattacks, compromising millions of Texans' data.
In the heat-blasted deserts of Texas, 2023 unfurled a digital horror show, a high-octane hack-a-thon where no industry was safe. From the steel towers of finance to the gritty pipelines of gas, the information of millions of Texans was laid bare, a smorgasbord for the data-devouring vultures circling overhead.
Texas, my dear, you've been hacked! Last year, the Lone Star State became a hotbed for cyberattacks. Our tale begins with Mr. Cooper, a mortgage loan leviathan, whose digital defenses crumbled, spilling the private data of 14.6 million souls into the ether. Approximately 1,182,962 Texans caught in this digital crossfire, as per the grim tally of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The health care sector bled data like a severed artery. Over 30 companies, with nearly 3 million Texans in the cyber firing line. The most infamous? MOVEit's breach – a digital tsunami sweeping up 67 million people, including Texas Medicaid recipients. Harris Health System and The Harris Center for Mental Health in Houston, CentroMed in San Antonio, and various Dallas health entities – all victims of this relentless cyber onslaught.
Financial fortresses like Charles Schwab, PlainsCapital Bank, and a slew of credit unions found themselves in the MOVEit debacle's whirlpool. Thousands of Texans' data, sucked into the void.
West Texas Gas, with its 44,916 affected Texans, and even global titan Shell found their systems infiltrated and confidential files pilfered.
MAC Pizza Management, Ben E. Keith Company, and Sysco Corp – all served up their customers' data on a hacker's silver platter.
American Airlines, Southwest Airlines – even these sky-bound behemoths weren't immune. Their pilot applicant data, plundered in a devious digital heist.
Tesla, the electric empire of Elon Musk, witnessed a data leak not from shadowy hackers, but from within – a betrayal of Shakespearean proportions.
Ram Dantu of UNT implores – Texas must bolster its cyber battlements, educate its digital warriors, and beckon the innovative minds to turn the tide in this unending cyber war.
In a world where bytes and bits are as precious as oil and gas, Texas stands at a precipice. Will it rise to meet the digital demons head-on, or will it remain a playground for the cyber predators lurking in the shadows of the internet? Only time, and perhaps a little Texan grit, will tell.
