Four more municipalities confirm being hit with ransomware…
Georgia has once again been riddled with ransomware. This time, Henry County officials have confirmed their networks have been compromised by an unknown ransomware variant. Fortunately, the ransomware did not corrupt emergency or public safety systems. Although, state court, tax assessor and board of commissioners networks were still down as of July 22, 2019 – five days after the attack.
In addition, the Lawrenceville Police Department of Georgia was also infected with ransomware. Police department officials confirmed certain systems have been taken offline in hopes to minimize the impact of the attack. The exact ransomware that corrupted police department networks remains unknown. Additionally, officials have not confirmed if they intend to pay ransom demands in an attempt to expedite remediation efforts.
The last two attacks that occurred have been attributed to Ryuk ransomware. This particular form of ransomware infiltrates networks through a virus, then sits dormant until the attacks strike. The first attack hit the Onondaga County library in New York. Then, less than a week later another attack hit the Butler County library in Pennsylvania. Both entities were forced to take systems offline until the ransomware could be remediated. It is unclear if either library will opt to pay the ransom demands in an attempt to restore systems. However, they have reported to notifying the proper authorities.
Other Cyber Attacks
These are far from the first attacks to hit public municipalities within the U.S. in 2019.
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.
