Customers of Bryan Texas Utilities (BTU) are unable to make online credit or debit card payments following a ransomware attack on the utility’s third-party payment processor, BridgePay. BTU is a public power utility serving the city of Bryan, which is located in Brazos country, Texas.
The issue began on February 6 when BridgePay was taken offline after the cyberattack. BTU serves approximately 70,000 customers across the Brazos Valley, many of whom have been affected by the disruption but BTU officials say no customer data has been compromised.
According to the utility, sensitive payment information is encrypted and tokenized, meaning credit card numbers and personal details are masked and cannot be accessed or misused by hackers.
During Ransomware attack, cybercriminals demand payment usually in cryptocurrency in exchange for a key to unlock the system. These attacks commonly spread through phishing emails, malicious links, or infected attachments.
BTU says it is working to restore payment services as quickly as possible and is exploring both short-term solutions and long-term safeguards to prevent similar incidents in the future. Officials estimate the outage could last one to two weeks but note that the timeline is subject to change.
BTU has implemented the following temporary measures to minimize the impact: no late fees, no penalties, no service disconnections for non-payment
The utility also says it will work with customers who may face challenges paying accumulated bills once the system is restored.
BTU says it will continue to monitor the situation and maintain that customer informationl has not been leaked or stolen in the attack.
