Pay by 8:39 a.m. ransomware group tells Fulton County, Georgia
Officials in Fulton County, Georgia, have until 8:39 a.m. local time on Thursday to pay the international hacking group responsible for the ongoing cyberattack on the county’s government servers, according to a report by Atlanta News First.
Lockbit 3.0 is threatening to release sensitive information if county officials don’t pay the ransom. A deadline for ransom payment was originally set for the morning of Feb. 16, but the date passed without consequence as Fulton County officials refused to comply with the group’s demands.
Fulton County officials said they have an incident response plan in the event the hacking group follows through on its threat and sensitive information or citizens’ personal data is released.
“If we determine that peoples’ personal information was involved in this incident, we will make all legally required notifications and provide them with resources to help protect their personal information,” Fulton County officials said in a statement to Fox News. “The safety of our citizens is our highest concern, and we are taking this situation seriously as we continue our investigation.”
In the weeks since the cyberattack on Jan. 29, Fulton County has restored its online transaction system for water billing and its email. More than half of Fulton County phone lines have also been restored, according to a Feb. 22 update.
Residents are still unable to make electronic payments to the county’s property tax system. And while its judicial system is operational, the county has also reported its case management system continues to be disrupted.
