Hackers have locked the digital systems of all government offices in Licking County of Ohio State with the help of a notorious malware. And officials are not in a position to predict when the operations will return to normalcy. But said that they will try to restore the systems by February 13th this year.
Licking County Commissioner Tim Bubb disclosed to media on Thursday evening that his team of experts has restored the phone services by early Friday. And are confident that they could resume the computer operations by next weekend.
Thus, due to this ransomware propelled digital shut down, the county government offices, including 911 dispatch, are working without access to computers and other communication systems.
However, the public can still access 911 emergency services for seeking help from police, fire or medical teams- all due to a disaster recovery plan.
Tim Bubb said that the malware could have sneaked into the system due to a phishing scam or by a digital mistake committed by an employee/s. Adding more to the issue was a lack of a business continuity plan.
Note- Ransomware is a kind of malware which sneaks into a database through various resources and then locks down the entire database until a specific ransom is paid. In general, cyber security forces cannot break the ransomware propelled encrypted data and so they either have to wipe off the entire database or rely on a backup to revive the operations.
Details on who hacked the county’s digital network are being kept under wraps. But our reliable sources report that this could be the work of a notorious hacking group who previously hacked a shopping and Air Travel portal in 2014.
Officials from Licking County say that a team of experts from San Francisco has been flown into to deal with the situation.
More details are awaited!
