Washburn County officials say they’re currently experiencing a cyberattack.
Washburn County Board Chair Lolita Olson announced its government operations were affected in a post on the county’s website.
Olson told WPR that it’s unknown who or what caused the attack, which occurred around 4 a.m. Thursday.
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“Our IT Department became aware of the activity this morning, so they initiated their response procedures and took steps to protect the county systems and data,” Olson said.
CBS News reported Thursday a dozen states have experienced cyberattacks on water and wastewater utilities that appear to be linked to Iranian hackers, but Olson said the county doesn’t have any connection to water and sewer systems. She said it’s unknown what the attack was targeting.
The county is working with the Wisconsin Department of Justice to investigate the attack and assess its impacts. She said Washburn County shut down all operations tied to the internet, which has affected the county’s phone and email systems.
“We’re asking the public if they have to contact anybody at the county to just go through 911, and they will route the information to the appropriate departments at this time,” Olson said.
The cyberattack has affected all county operations except the court system, which she said operates on a separate server.
“We don’t know how far they’ve gotten in, or what’s been looked at, so we’re just waiting to see what our cybersecurity team will inform us on,” Olson said.
Olson said the county remains open for business, and people can stop by if they have questions about county services. Updates will be posted on the county’s website, but there’s currently no timeline on when county operations will come back online.
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