Targeting Municipalities Has Become the New Norm, as yet Another County Is Riddled with Ransomware

Hutchinson County, South Dakota Struck with Ryuk Ransomware

Yet another public municipality has been hit with ransomware. This time it was Hutchinson County, seated in Olivet, South Dakota. Upon investigation of the attack, it was determined hackers used the ransomware variant, Ryuk, to infect the county’s server. County officials have confirmed, the server is completed corrupted, and they will be forced to purchase new hardware.

Fortunately, business has been able to carry on as usual for most departments. Email systems have remained functional, and for those who are able, they’ve maintained their duties manually.

At this time, it remains unclear when the county’s networks will be fully operational. The county IT staff is working to rebuild, without communicating with the cyber criminals regarding ransom demands.

Other Attacks

This is far from the first ransomware attack on a public municipality. In just the last six weeks several city and county offices have experienced ransomware infections, across the nation. These counties include:

• Genesee County, Michigan
• City of Greenville, South Carolina
• City of Stuart, Florida
• Howard County, Indiana
• Imperial County, California
• Potter County, Texas
• City of Washington, Pennsylvania
• Hutchinson County, South Dakota

For a list of ransomware attacks that have already taken place in 2019, you may click here. We have also created a map, see below, of the ransomware attacks that have taken place in the U.S.