SALEM, Ore. (AP) - A coastal Oregon county was struggling Thursday to get its computer and telephone systems running again after it was hit by a cyberattack.
The attack on Tillamook County government has affected all departments, knocked out all computer systems and its website, and left phones working intermittently, officials said in a statement.
It says there is no indication that the personal information of employees or residents has been accessed or misused.
“The county will be operating ‘old school’ for a few days,” county commissioner Mary Faith Bell said in the statement. “No credit cards, and we’ll have to come up with workarounds to take care of county business.”
It comes as recent cyberattacks have hit governments in cities like Las Vegas, New Orleans and Pensacola, Florida.
Officials in the northwest Oregon county along the Pacific coast said they began experiencing difficulties with several computer systems Wednesday. The information technology department determined it was a malware attack.
“Tillamook takes the security of the information entrusted to us very seriously. We are taking steps to prevent a similar event from occurring in the future, including strengthening security measures,” the statement said.
County officials said they would work with law enforcement and hire an independent computer forensics provider and legal experts to help in the investigation. The FBI office in Portland, which has a cybercrime task force, has offered to help, spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said.
The attack has disrupted county business, including delaying mailing out notifications of the county commission’s Jan. 9 decision to grant Facebook permission to build a landing spot for an undersea fiber-optic cable connecting America with Asia on a community’s residential lot.
Residents of the tiny beachside community of Tierra del Mar vociferously opposed the plan, which they said will subject the village to drilling that could damage home foundations and septic systems and open the door for other similar projects.
Residents intend to appeal the decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. The 21-day clock for appeals will not start until the notifications are mailed out, said Lynnae Ruttledge, a Tierra del Mar homeowner.
Ruttledge said an official has mentioned that the county could be offline for another four days.
Computer-related crimes caused losses in Oregon in excess of $24 million in the first nine months of 2019, according to the FBI.
The county was not releasing details about Wednesday’s attack, including whether it was ransomware.
The form of malicious software targets data and can affect individuals, businesses, cities and counties. It encrypts a system, effectively locking out its owners. The attacker promises to decrypt the information if paid.
“Although we are not at liberty to share many details about this matter at this time, we will provide a further update once the investigation is complete,” the county statement said.
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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky
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January 24, 2020 at 03:02AM
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