Tag: Data Loss

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Whiteout? Dallas Data Loss Media Drop

Dallas Data Loss Media Drop

Dallas residents were rightfully concerned by Dallas weather conditions Wednesday afternoon with ice pending, but Dallas City Attorney Chris Caso chose Wednesday afternoon for its Dallas data loss media drop saying Erin Nealy Cox’s report was submitted and going to members of City Council.

Dallas Data Loss Media Drop

In the terse press release, Dallas officials said Erin Nealy Cox of the law firm Kirkland & Ellis delivered to the City Attorney’s Office the firm’s report on the March 2021 data loss incident involving Dallas Police Department (DPD) data.

The firm’s report, findings, and recommendations were made available to the City Council in a closed session during today’s council meeting.

Dallas Data Loss Media Drop

Erin Nealy Cox took over an independent investigation into the city IT losses which deleted millions of police files used in criminal prosecutions.

Nealy Cox is the former US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas and was recommended by Dallas officials hoping to find answers to the data loss jeopardizing upwards of 17,000 criminal cases.

Neither Cox, nor Kirkland&Ellis, nor the City of Dallas have responded to questions about the investigation, but there are at least two allegations we have learned about involving a coverup of federal housing dollars in South Dallas and past and present members of City Council.

The report next goes to the Ad Hoc Committee on General Investigating and Ethics on Tuesday, March 1. The report will be made public this week in advance of the committee meeting. That committee is led by Cara Mendelsohn, District 12.

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City of Dallas Data Loss Report Drops

Data Loss Report

The Dallas data loss report dropped late Thursday in a quiet press release. The report aims to answer questions about the 20TB+ loss of data that is halting prosecutions of murder suspects and interupting city functions.

Data Loss Report

A press release noted a review and analysis conducted into the mass data loss first discovered by the City in April 2021, the City of Dallas IT Department Thursday provided City Manager TC Broadnax a report giving further details around the events leading to the data loss, the efforts to recover data, and making recommendations for changes to reduce the risk of potential future data loss.

Broadnax noted in a statement, “The City understands the seriousness and potential impacts of this data loss and we are committed to improving how we manage our data to ensure its security and integrity,” said City Manager TC Broadnax. “In this report, our IT Department provides a path forward with a series of direct and actionable recommendations to improve our management of data and guard against any future data loss.”

The statement continues that the report confirms that the City lost 20.9 terabytes (TB) of data, totaling 8.26 million individual files in two events during the month of March 2021. The report cites actions taken by a City IT employee as the cause of the archive deletions and examines other factors and conditions contributing to the events. The data loss impacted archive files of the Dallas Police Department (DPD) and consisted of archived images, videos, audio files, case notes and other administrative documents gathered by the Department. Additionally, it delineates thorough reviews conducted of other backup and archive processes and confirms that other City systems were unaffected by these events.

Data Loss Report Out, But No Answers

The report does not address employee disciplinary actions, nor does it describe the details of any investigatory actions completed or underway related to the data loss. Multiple sources confirm an investigation by the Dallas Field Office of the FBI.

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