S.D. (KOTA) – Pennington County says all departments are operational again following a ransomware attack that was discovered over the Fourth of July holiday, though some systems and public services still remain limited
County officials said unauthorized activity was detected in portions of the county’s IT network on July 4. Investigators determined hackers gained access to county systems and deployed ransomware, prompting IT staff to take systems and servers offline to contain the attack.
Since then, county employees and cybersecurity experts, along with state and federal agencies, have worked to investigate the attack, restore systems and strengthen security.
County Commission Chairman Ron Weifenbach said officials are now able to provide more information after limiting what they shared during the early stages of the investigation.
Some services remain limited while systems are restored, and the county has not provided a timeline for full recovery.
Officials said they are using lessons from the attack to make additional investments in cybersecurity technology, employee training and other security measures.
The county credited the South Dakota National Guard Cyber Incident Response Team, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI, the South Dakota Fusion Center and other partners for helping with the response and recovery.
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