Threat Management, Malware, Ransomware

Breaches of Madison County? Indiana officials stymied by ransomware

Public officials in Madison County, Indiana are reportedly unable to access the county server following a ransomware attack that targeted their files and demanded payment for their safe return.

According to an online report by Fox affiliate WXIN, local police, firefighters and other officials on Monday were logging all records by hand as the Indiana State Police Cybercrimes Unit investigated the incident. Officials reported being unable to access archived court records or criminal records, and also could not use computers to book suspects in jail.

“There are so many unknowns here because even the investigators that had a lot of experience in this area are telling us they have not dealt with this specific virus before,” said Madison Country Sheriff Scott Mellinger in the report.

Located in Central Indiana, Madison County had a population of just under 130,000 as of July 1, 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Bradley Barth

As director of multimedia content strategy at CyberRisk Alliance, Bradley Barth develops content for online conferences, webcasts, podcasts video/multimedia projects — often serving as moderator or host. For nearly six years, he wrote and reported for SC Media as deputy editor and, before that, senior reporter. He was previously a program executive with the tech-focused PR firm Voxus. Past journalistic experience includes stints as business editor at Executive Technology, a staff writer at New York Sportscene and a freelance journalist covering travel and entertainment. In his spare time, Bradley also writes screenplays.

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