WCSO under cyber-attack Tuesday

Early Tuesday morning Washington County Sheriff’s Office came under a ransomware cyber attack. 

While the attack is ongoing, the WCSO Information Technology (IT) staff and a private IT company are working on a solution. Sheriff Kevin Crews says the malware has locked down the finance and jail computer systems. 

Crews says he believes they know the origin of the attack. 

“We believe the attack originated in Russia,†Crews said. “We aren’t absolutely sure but we believe it to be.â€

Calls for service and communication with officers are still working according to Crews. 

“We still have the ability to answer calls into E-911 and dispatch our officers accordingly,†Crews said. “Our lines of communication are still open.â€

Crews declined to comment on the demands from the hackers simply saying, “I will not be meeting any of the demands, so what they want doesn’t matter.â€

This is a developing story and we will continue to update as information becomes available.