Clinton County State’s Attorney Doug Gruenke says the county continues to recover from a ransomware attack that has infected computers in several county offices.
Gruenke says the records management program at the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department, as well as computers at the county clerk, treasurer, and supervisor of assessment and public defender offices, are impacted.
Gruenke says the attack first came to light on January 24th when the infection of some files was noticed. A computer forensic firm was called and the impacted computers were secured the next day.
Gruenke notes efforts are continuing to bring some of the computers back online, a project that could be completed as soon as this weekend. He reports the investigation into the ransomware attack is on-going. Gruenke says there is no evidence any data was taken before the computers were locked down.
Gruenke notes the county was getting ready to install a number of new computers obtained through a federal CARES grant. That has allowed some offices to continue to work during the recovery effort. At the sheriff’s department, reports are currently being drafted outside of their management system software for submittal to the State’s Attorney’s office.
Gruenke says further information on the cost of the recovery effort will be released later when the project is completed.
Photo: Clinton County State’s Attorney Doug Gruenke.
