Enlarge / The Knoxville City-County Building, overlooking the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tennessee. (credit: Brian Stansberry) The city of Knoxville, Tennessee, shut down large portions of its computer network on Thursday after being hit overnight by a ransomware attack, it was widely reported on Thursday. The attack was first noticed by members of the Knoxville Fire Department around 4:30am Thursday, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.