Data breach at software provider to local governments

DALLAS (AP) — A major provider of software services to local governments and schools across the United States, Tyler Technologies, told customers Wednesday that an unknown intruder broke into its phone and information technology systems.

It could not immediately be determined whether ransomware may have been involved.

The Plano, Texas-based company, whose website was offline, said in an email sent to customers that it discovered the breach Wednesday morning, contacted law enforcement and enlisted outside cybersecurity help.

Tyler customers include Des Moines, Hartford and St. Louis, County, according to a 2019 copy of its website on the Internet Archive. The archived website said its company software is “the perfect fit” for everything from small towns to counties serving more than 2 million people.

Tyler did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails Wednesday. On Twitter, it said “a network issue” was affecting its phone and web site and that “we’re working to resolve as quickly as possible." The company’s home page said it was temporarily unavailable but provided no additional information.

“At this time and based on the evidence available to us to-date, all indications are that the impact of this incident is limited to our internal network and phone systems,” said the email sent to customers and obtained by The Associated Press. “We currently have no reason to believe that any client data, client servers or hosted systems are affected.”

An FBI spokeswoman in Dallas could not immediately say whether the agency is involved in any way.

A cybersecurity expert assisting municipalities that are customers of Tyler's Munis software suite, Mike Hamilton of CI Security, said he was particularly concerned that hackers may have obtained access...