Tarrant Appraisal District says it is victim of ransomware attack following website crash

The Tarrant Appraisal District said Friday that it had been the victim of a criminal ransomware attack, a day after its revamped website crashed during what the agency called a “network disruption.”

TAD launched a new website March 14 — earlier than expected — after its old one crashed because of a database failure.

The appraisal district’s board is set to hold an emergency meeting on Monday.

On Thursday, the new site failed to load, and officials said the district had experienced a network disruption. The district’s phones and emails are still down, according to a post at TAD.org.

Chief appraiser Joe Don Bobbitt told the Star-Telegram on Thursday that he could not rule out that the two crashes were related, calling it suspicious.

TAD said Thursday it was working with “leading independent cybersecurity experts” to restore its computer system.

Today's top stories:

→ A year has passed since 6-year-old Noel was reported missing in Everman

→ Do these 2 Tarrant school districts block the election of Black, Hispanic board members?

→ New Stockyards hotels may crop up near homes. Where are they and who owns them?

🚨Get free alerts when news breaks.

County judge Tim O’Hare took to X to voice his concerns about the security of the appraisal district’s website.

“It is imperative that TAD keep the public informed about the situation and ensure private data is protected,” O’Hare said. “I’m hopeful they will get this situation fixed, as well as the other problems caused by the previous regime at TAD.”

O’Hare also took a jab at the previous TAD “regime,” voicing his confidence in the new board and chief appraiser.

“Those responsible for this criminal ransomware attack should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” O’Hare told the Star Telegram in a statement Friday.

Rich DeOtte, the board’s most tenured member, said despite the security issues the past couple of weeks, he feels the district is headed in the right direction.

“I’ve been on board a little more than four years. This is the first time I’ve ever been notified by staff there was a problem before I was getting questioned from the public,” he said.

Fort Worth city council member Alan Blaylock, a newcomer to the board, agreed with DeOtte.

Blylock added that he appreciated the continued transparency and correspondence from the appraisal distinct and looks forward to being able to use his extensive background in computer science to provide insight and ask crucial questions in Monday’s meeting.

He also doubled down on his support of the chief appraiser.

“Joe Don is the right person at the right time,” Blylock said.

Last week Bobbitt told the Star-Telegram that out of an abundance of caution the appraisal district had hired a third party to investigate the potential breach of taxpayer information.

The agency’s website sustained a cyberattack in October 2022 but no taxpayer information was compromised, according to an investigation.

Jingguo Wang, a professor of information systems and operations management at UT Arlington, said a ransomware attack should be of concern to property owners.

The fact that communications services are down indicates the attack has not been resolved, Wang said.

“In the old days the hacker would just lock down your system and ask you for money,” Wang said. “Now a trend is showing that more and more of those attackers and hackers steal information and during the negations they say ‘Hey, pay all of they money or I’m going to release this information.’”

Wang added that it’s possible the increased attention and public reports about the Appraisal District’s computer systems might have made them a target for the attack.

The appraisal district did not answer questions about whether it paid those responsible for the ransomware attack.

TAD launched a new website in April 2023, following the October 2022 attack, but it was quickly overwhelmed by traffic, with pages locking up, failing to download or timing out. It also did not include the protest function at first, forcing the agency to extend the protest deadline while it worked the bugs out.

The website’s functionality is critical during property tax season, because it allows the owners of the county’s nearly 680,000 residential and commercial properties to view their values and protest their values online.

The district sets property appraisals and administers exemptions for tax purposes.

Bobbitt, 41, assumed role of chief appraiser after months of turmoil at TAD, which resulted in the resignation of his predecessor, Jeff Law. The Tarrant County commissioners took a vote of no confidence in Law last August, and at least three mayors called for his ouster after the Star-Telegram reported that a senior manager suggested TAD lie to the public about festering problems with its website.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.