Washington County experienced a cybersecurity threat as hackers targeted its local government, prompting an immediate response. Leaders received an early morning warning from Homeland Security officials, leading to the swift shutdown of servers on Wednesday.
The security breach was identified as a phishing expedition, with confirmation received at 3 a.m. County Commissioner Nick Sherman revealed that Homeland Security, rather than the usual IT department, notified them of the attack.
While the Washington County Courthouse continued its operations, relying on manual processes for filing paperwork and court proceedings, the official nature of the breach, whether it’s a cyber attack, ransomware, or averted in time, awaits confirmation from Homeland Security.
Meanwhile, Bucks County also faced a similar situation as they received a 3 a.m. call from Homeland Security, but their 911 system was compromised in the attack. In contrast, Washington’s 911 system remained fully operational. Commissioner Sherman highlighted the temporary reliance on paper-based services, filing court documents manually and delivering them to the police.
Despite these measures, the official recording into the server and cloud infrastructure remained temporarily halted. As both counties await updates from Homeland Security, there is uncertainty about the extent and type of the cyber threat they faced, raising questions about potential cyber attacks or ransomware incidents.
The impact on Washington County’s daily operations is evident, with the courthouse remaining open but facing limitations due to the reliance on paper-based processes. Commissioner Sherman emphasized the importance of an official update from Homeland Security to determine whether the breach was successfully thwarted in its early stages or if it poses a lingering cyber threat.
The uncertainty surrounding the incident underscores the growing challenges faced by local governments in safeguarding against cyber threats and the need for swift and effective responses to protect critical infrastructure and services.
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