Ransomware attack plagues DeKalb County government email, servers

SYCAMORE – DeKalb County government email access remains unavailable and other county servers continue to face issues after a Monday ransomware attack, according to county officials.

DeKalb County government electronic servers were subjected to a ransomware attack on Monday, according to a Tuesday news release from county government officials. As a result, the county’s servers were inaccessible with limited functionality “throughout county operations,” according to the news release.

“It does not appear that any County files have been compromised,” county officials wrote in the release.

County government offices were closed on Monday due to the Columbus Day and Indigenous People’s Day holiday.

The county’s information management office continues to work to restore the servers using back-up data, officials wrote in the Tuesday release.

“While significant progress has been made to restore the servers, e-mail access is currently unavailable,” the release states.

As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, the DeKalb County Health Department’s online COVID-19 data dashboard has not been updated since Friday.

County staff wrote in the Tuesday news release they have “made arrangements to provide services within the current limitations.” Tasha Sims, executive assistant for the county’s administration office, confirmed the county’s WiFi internet is working, “so Zoom and all that work.”

DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan confirmed the sheriff’s office also is dealing with email access issues. He said that, as of about 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, there have been no outage-related police reports filed that he is aware of.

“The sheriff’s office is still able to receive calls and dispatch police and fire,” Sullivan said.

County officials did not cite the source of the ransomware attack in the Tuesday news release.

Sims and Sullivan deferred additional comment to DeKalb County Administrator Brian Gregory on Tuesday.

“I am proud of the work that the Information Management Office team has been doing and the flexibility our staff has shown making adjustments to provide services,” Gregory said in the Tuesday news release.

Gregory was not immediately available for additional comment Tuesday afternoon.

DeKalb County Board Chairman John Frieders said in the news release county officials “appreciate the public’s continued support and patience as our staff work to restore our system.”

• This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.