Georgia‘s Coffee County recently experienced a significant cyberattack, prompting swift action from local officials who disconnected from the state’s voter registration system, GARViS, as a precaution. The disruption occurred after the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) alerted the county to the incident on April 15. According to sources familiar with the matter, investigators believe the attack was ransomware-based, which typically involves locking out the legitimate users of a system and demanding ransom to restore access.
Following the attack, the county took immediate measures to secure voter data by severing the connection to GARViS. This system, which has been crucial for maintaining accurate voter registration records in Georgia, was not compromised during the incident. In the interim, county officials managed to maintain access to the voter registration system using backup laptops and cellular networks that were isolated from the compromised county network.
Coffee County, with a population of about 43,000, has been a notable site in past political controversies, particularly following the 2020 presidential election. It was reported that in January 2021, pro-Trump operatives breached the county’s election office in search of evidence to support false claims of election fraud. This history highlights the sensitivity of the area in terms of electoral integrity and the potential impact of such cyberattacks.
