Michigan’s largest county suffers cyberattack
Wayne County, Michigan, the largest county in the state with more than 1.75 million residents, is dealing with a cyberattack that shut down all its government websites and limited the operations of several functions, including financial transactions, case management and estate sales.
The cyberattack was first reported by WXYZ on Wednesday.
Doug Lulgjuraj, a spokesperson for the county, which contains Detroit, told local affiliates that he expects the county’s website, which was still inaccessible on Thursday afternoon, to be “fully operational” by Friday, which would restore access to several online services, such as property tax payments and property records.
“Impacted services have been transitioned to backup processes to maintain operations. Barring any unforeseen issues, we expect the county website to be fully operational by the start of business on Friday,” Lulgjuraj told ABC, FOX and CBS, on Wednesday.
The hack is also disrupting the county’s judicial system, preventing jail inmates from being bonded out, WXYZ reported. Defense attorneys reported being unable to schedule visits with their clients, and websites for the Wayne County prosecutor’s and clerk’s offices are non-operational.
Lulgjuraj did not state whether this was a ransomware attack, but that the county’s information technology team is currently investigating the scope of the incident with the FBI and Michigan State Police.
In August, the City of Flint, Michigan, suffered a ransomware attack that disrupted its network and telecommunications, including the city’s payment system.
