Curry County Local Government Suffers Cyber Attack

Curry County local government has suffered a cyber attack, preventing access to online files, including email.

“Everything that relates to county operations that was online is now gone. So our computers have to be completely wiped clean, and everything’s got to start over,” Curry County Commissioner Brad Alcorn said. “Our network has to start over. Our servers have to start over. We are essentially starting from scratch.”

“You couldn’t plug your computer into a printer and print a document right now,” he continued.

Discovery of the Attack

Curry County staff first discovered the attack on April 26th when a sheriff’s dispatch noticed that county information was inaccessible and encrypted.

Impact on County Operations

While the county still has control over Tuesday’s election and 911 dispatch calls, Alcorn reports that the attack has affected every other part of county government operations.

“Let’s say that you’re buying a house, and you have your interest rate loan locked, and you’re about to close on your mortgage agreement. We can’t record that right now. If you’re selling the house, we can’t record the sale of your home. If you’re trying to get a marriage license, it’s not going to happen right now,” he said.

Ransomware Group Claims Responsibility

The Royal ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the attack and requested a ransom to decrypt information, but Alcorn has declined to share the amount that was requested.