Gilmer County government offices are in the middle of a ransomware attack.
County Chair Charlie Paris released the following statement about the attack.
“Gilmer County recently discovered a ransomware attack on our computer network. As soon as we learned this, we began working to investigate and determine the effects of the incident.
“We also are working with nationally recognized third-party cybersecurity and data forensics consultants to assist us.
“We alerted federal law enforcement and are cooperating with their investigation. The county is working very closely with its consultants in order to understand the scope of the incident.
“Because the county took its network offline to contain the attack, many systems remain down as we develop plans to continue providing services securely to the public. However, all of our essential services including 911 continue to operate.
“The safety and security of our residents and our employees remains our top priority. We are working around the clock through this cyber incident and ask for your patience as we implement business continuity measures.
“We are grateful to have some of the industry’s top experts helping guide our response. Together, we will fully recover from this event and move forward as a stronger and smarter county.
“We will keep you informed when we have further updates.”