Nevada

Nevada ransomware attack started months before it was discovered, per report

Published

3 months ago

November 6, 2025

LAS VEGAS — State workers were put on paid administrative leave. Nevada residents couldn’t receive their driver’s licenses. Employers were unable to conduct background checks on new hires. These were all effects of a massive cyberattack in Nevada that took nearly a month to fully restore its services.

The ransomware attack – though discovered in August – occurred as early as May when a state employee mistakenly downloaded malicious software, and cost at least $1.5 million to recover, according to an after-action report the state released Wednesday.

“Nevada’s teams protected core services, paid our employees on time, and recovered quickly — without paying criminals,” Gov. Joe Lombardo said Wednesday in a statement announcing the report. “This is what disciplined planning, talented public servants, and strong partnerships deliver for Nevadans.”

The attack came on the heels of a long series of cybercrimes against states and municipalities in recent years.

In 2024, Georgia’s largest county was hit with a cyberattack where hackers shut down office phone lines and threatened to publicly release sensitive data they claimed to have stolen unless officials paid ransom. The ransomware syndicate LockBit took credit for the cyberattack in late January that temporarily crippled government services in Fulton County.

Cybercriminals hacked Rhode Island’s system for health and benefits programs and released files to a site on the dark web in 2024.

The Colorado Department of Transportation’s computer network was targeted in a ransomware attack in 2018 by two Iranian computer hackers, though no money was paid and no information was lost.

When Baltimore was hit in 2019 with a ransomware attack that crippled the city’s services for a month, it was estimated to cost at least $18.2 million. A year before, a ransomware attack slammed Baltimore’s 911 dispatch system.

Nevada officials maintain the state did not pay the ransom, the amount of which was not disclosed. The attacker has yet to be identified, and the incident is still under investigation.

The attack against Nevada was a “fairly large ransomware against a state,” according to Gregory Moody, director of cybersecurity programs at UNLV. This attack was able to spread through the state more quickly because of the decentralized nature of Nevada’s cyber systems, he said.

Nevada’s response time was good compared to others, he said. It typically takes between seven and eight months to discover an attacker in a system, and Nevada officials caught it faster than is usual, Moody said.

The attack cost 4,212 in overtime hours – or about $211,000 in direct overtime wages – and $1.3 million for help from contractors, according to the report. The $1.3 million was paid for by the state’s cyber insurance, according to the governor’s office.

The cost could have been much higher, Moody said. When a data breach targeted the Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts in 2023, it was expected to cost the casino giant more than $100 million.

“I think they got lucky,” said Cameron Call, chief technology officer at the Las Vegas-based cybersecurity company Blue Paladin. “It sounds low compared to some; I don’t know that it’s taking into account the economic cost for the state being down for as long as it was.”

On May 14, a state employee accidentally downloaded a malware-laced system administration tool that was made to mimic a tool frequently accessed by IT personnel, according to the after-action report. That installed a hidden backdoor to give the attacker access, investigators with the cybersecurity firm Mandiant found.

By August, the attacker established encrypted tunnels and used a remote desktop protocol to move across the state’s system, gaining access to the state’s password vault server.

The attacker created a zip file containing sensitive data, including personal information of one former state employee, who was notified, according to the report. Investigators have not found that data was successfully extracted or published on a site.

The report includes steps the state is taking and recommendations to better protect the state in the future, such as creating a centrally-managed security operations center and deploying endpoint detection and response, a platform to improve threat detection.

Cybersecurity experts, however, say those are standard protocols that the state should have been doing for years.

“The recommendations that they put forward are definitely solid, but, you know, they’ve been best practice for quite a while,” Call said.

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Nevada

The Southern Nevada Ufology Group: Alien intrigue and fun

Published

2 hours ago

January 28, 2026

Press Room

The Southern Nevada Ufology Group: Alien intrigue and fun

Supposed sightings of alien aircraft and extraterrestrial life are synonymous with the state of Nevada. A new group in Southern Nevada hopes to offer a glimpse into the unsolved mysteries of the universe with its first event this weekend.

“I spend a lot of hours out there videotaping and to see that so many people want to come out and join me, it’s like a party,” said local ufologist Joseph De La Torre, better known as the Pahrump Alien Guy.

The Southern Nevada Ufology Group will host its first meeting on Saturday, Jan. 31, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. During the event, attendees will learn how to take photos of UFOs from the Pahrump Alien Guy himself. The meeting will take place at the Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Casino in the building’s gravel lot near the bowling parking area. Attendees will park in the bowling parking lot.

“I ended up learning to look into the skies here over Pahrump and I read an article where it said that Pahrump is in the Area 51 excursion zone,” the Pahrump Alien Guy told the Pahrump Valley Times.

Participants are encouraged to arrive with a tripod for their phone in order to properly take photos. Food, beverages and camping chairs are also welcome, but the Southern Nevada Ufology Group asks guests to please clean up after themselves once the event is over. If you’re interested in joining Saturday’s meeting, you must RSVP by contacting southernnevadaufologygroup@gmail.com to confirm your attendance and to receive more information. Children are not allowed at the event.

“I think that it’s going to be very successful,” the Pahrump Alien Guy enthused.

The Pahrump Alien Guy hosted the inaugural Pahrump Alien Conference in October 2025, a gathering that saw a large turnout of locals, visitors from Las Vegas, and other tourists passing through Nye County.

“We didn’t think it was going to be that successful,” the Pahrump Alien Guy shared.

During that event, UFO photos from the Pahrump Alien Guy’s database were showcased, local vendors sold alien-themed goods and featured guests spoke about their work in ufology.

Two of the event’s featured speakers were Mike Bara, a New York Times best-selling author and frequent guest on the History Channel’s long-standing series “Ancient Aliens,” and Marysol Rezanov of the Nevada chapter of Citizens for Disclosure, a UFO information disclosure advocacy organization.

The Pahrump Alien Guy, his girlfriend Brid’Jette Whaley, Bara and Rezanov then founded the Southern Nevada Ufology Group. The group plans to host future meetings in other locations around Southern Nevada.

The Pahrump Alien Guy further explained that it was Bara and Rezanov’s idea to create a new skywatching group in Southern Nevada. Bara and Rezanov will be at Saturday’s meeting.

“We call it ‘Southern Nevada’ Ufology Group because it’s not just Pahrump,” the Pahrump Alien Guy said. “It’s all over southern Nevada.”

The Pahrump Alien Guy has a YouTube channel where he shows videos and photos he’s taken of UFOs. Watch the Pahrump Alien Guy’s videos on YouTube at youtube.com/@pahrumpalienguy.

Contact reporter Elijah Dulay at edulay@pvtimes.com

Southern Nevada Ufology Group’s first meeting

■ Saturday, Jan. 31, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

■ Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Casino located at 681 South Highway 160

■ Attendees will learn how to take photos of UFOs. Guests are are encouraged to bring a tripod for their phone.

■ To attend you must RSVP by contacting southernnevadaufologygroup@gmail.com

■ No children allowed

■ Park in the bowling parking lot, meeting will be held in neighboring gravel lot

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Nevada

Nevada’s population growth slowed last year, Census says

Published

14 hours ago

January 27, 2026

Press Room

Nevada’s population growth slowed last year, Census says

Nevada’s population growth slowed dramatically last year, according to new statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.

New figures from the government agency showed Nevada grew 0.9 percent, which put it in the top 10 states for percentage growth (9th) from July 2024 to July 2025. However, this is down from July 2023 to July 2024 when the state grew by 1.7 percent.

In July 2024, Nevada had 3,253,543 residents, and in July of last year it had 3,282,188. From July 2023 to July 2024, Nevada was the sixth fastest-growing state in the country, which meant it dropped three spots for the time period of July 2024 to July 2025.

Nevada expanded from 3,214,363 residents in July 2023 to 3,267,467 in July 2024, which turned out to be the fastest year-over-year growth rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, since before the pandemic in 2019. However, all of these growth rates are below the time frame of 2015 to 2018 when the state saw unprecedented population growth.

Overall, U.S. population growth slowed “significantly” from July 2024 to July of last year with an increase of only 1.8 million people, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This was the lowest population growth for the country since the early days of the pandemic when the population grew only 0.2 percent in 2021 year-over-year.

This population slowdown across the country follows a “sizeable” uptick in the growth rate in 2024 when the U.S. added 3.2 million people and grew 1 percent, the fastest annual population growth rate since all the way back in 2006.

“The slowdown in U.S. population growth is largely due to a historic decline in net international migration, which dropped from 2.7 million to 1.3 million in the period from July 2024 through June 2025,” said Christine Hartley, the assistant division chief for Estimates and Projections at the U.S. Census Bureau. “With births and deaths remaining relatively stable compared to the prior year, the sharp decline in net international migration is the main reason for the slower growth rate we see today.”

The population growth drop was felt across the country as all four census regions (West, Midwest, Northeast and the South) and every state except Montana and West Virginia saw growth slow or a decline in acceleration.

Five U.S. states experienced population decline from July 2024 to July 2025: California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont and West Virginia.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.

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Nevada

Nevada City to weigh water/wastewater treatment fee hikes

Published

1 day ago

January 27, 2026

Press Room

Nevada City to weigh water/wastewater treatment fee hikes

Water and wastewater users in Nevada City could see fee hikes coming down the pipe as the City of Nevada City is currently going through steps needed to do so.

According to the city staff report, water users would see a 25% increase in costs each year for the next 5 years, while wastewater use would result in a 12% increase each year for the next five years.

For example, a water user currently paying $48 bi-monthly in fees, would be paying $198.41 bi-monthly by 2030.

A current wastewater user paying $159.31 bi-monthly, would be paying $250.67 bi-monthly by 2030.

“It is necessary to periodically review rates to ensure that the City can obtain sufficient funds to develop, construct, operate, maintain, and manage its water and wastewater system on a continuing basis, in full compliance with federal, state, and local requirements,” a staff report prepared by Interim City Manager Joan Phillipe said.

Council and staff will convene on the matter at their next regularly scheduled council meeting this Wednesday January 28 at 6:30 p.m. at Nevada City Hall, 317 Broad Street.

“It is recommended that City Council select a rate option for both water and wastewater and direct staff to initiate the Proposition 218 noticing process. This will involve public engagement and noticing to receive and consider feedback regarding the proposed rates and with public meetings and a hearing as mandated by Proposition 218 for formal adoption of rate adjustments,” the staff report said.

City to look at Enterprise Fleet services

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the city of Nevada City will consider approval of an agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management to the tune of up to $400,000 per year.

“To increase fleet efficiency, reliability, and reduce expensive repair and fuel costs, staff has researched leasing options that would be a benefit to the organization,” the city staff report reads. “The City of Nevada City currently purchases all fleet vehicles on a cash basis, meaning the entire cost of each vehicle is paid at the time of purchase. This can be heavily impactful to the city as a whole and difficult to adequately budget for. Utilizing Enterprise Fleet Management would yield moderate savings while simultaneously improving fleet viability, safety, and appearance.”

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