A view of the Crossroads Center building in Washington.
Washington County is preparing to implement a new policy on how to respond to future cybersecurity attacks after a ransomware strike crippled the county government for more than two weeks earlier this year.
County solicitor Gary Sweat is asking the commissioners to consider approving a “business continuity and disaster contingency” plan that would have a protocol for county workers and its IT department to follow in the event of another cyber emergency.
Sweat told the commissioners during their Tuesday morning agenda-setting meeting that the policy was drafted by the Eckert Seamans law firm in Pittsburgh that the county hired as special counsel in response to the ransomware attack in January. Sweat said the policy is designed to delegate roles and create a process to protect data if a breach occurs again.
Russia-based hackers were able to infiltrate the county’s internal network on Jan. 19, and it eventually evolved into a ransomware attack that began causing major issues for its system and computers. The county openly admitted to the cyberattack on Jan. 24 as it worked with federal authorities and a private tech consultant working to prevent the ransomware from spreading.
The commissioners held a special emergency meeting Feb. 6 and agreed to authorize a payment of up to $400,000 to DigitalMint of Chicago – a firm that specializes in selling cryptocurrency – to settle the cyberattack and help the county restore its computer server. Commissioners Nick Sherman and Electra Janis approved the payment, while Commissioner Larry Maggi voted against it.
The commissioners voted again Feb. 15 after questions were raised with how the ransom payment was authorized, and Sweat revealed at that meeting that hackers were sent $346,687 in cryptocurrency in exchange for a “digital encryption key” to unlock the network.
Since then, Eckert Seamans has been formulating the policy in order to protect the county and help it react should future cyberattacks occur. During Tuesday’s meeting, Sweat said the policy is needed not only to give workers directions on how to respond, but also to protect sensitive data or information. He said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently fined an ambulance service in Iowa about $90,000 due to a data breach in which private patient information was compromised.
Details on the policy were not released. The commissioners are expected to approve the policy during their voting meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday in the public meeting room on the ground floor of the Crossroads Center building in Washington.
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