FBI says it is coordinating with city of Dallas over ransomware incident

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI said on Friday it was coordinating with the city of Dallas, Texas, over a ransomware incident that disrupted several public services, closing courts and knocking emergency services websites offline this week.

"The FBI is aware of the incident and coordinating with the city of Dallas. As this is ongoing, we do not have any additional information to provide at this time," the U.S. law enforcement agency said in a statement.

Courts were closed on Wednesday and Thursday, the city said in a series of statements posted online. Although the statements said emergency services to residents were unaffected, the home pages of the police and fire service were unavailable on Friday, and a police spokesperson said the city's computer-aided dispatch system had been hit.

The ransomware operation behind the Dallas hack is called Royal, according to two security researchers familiar with the incident. U.S. officials tie the group to the Conti gang of cybercriminals, who in turn have been alleged to operate out of Russia and maintain links to Russian intelligence.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)