On Election Day Wexford County experienced a malware attack.
It caused operation malfunctions, but the county administrator wants people to know that election security was not affected.
“It doesn’t look like it was tied in any way to the election all,” said Wexford County administrator Joe Porterfield.
He said despite the malware attack the county agency experienced, election security was unaffected.
“This happened way early in the morning before any election information was coming into our building. So we were able to work with the local townships,” said Porterfield. “They brought their data in, and all of that stuff was compiled by our clerk’s office last night. And, no, we believe we are in good shape.”
They first got wind of the attack from their cyber security team Tuesday morning after receiving notice that the wexfordcounty.org website was under a malware attack.
Some computer systems at the Wexford County courthouse were affected, including email and phones.
The network has now been disconnected until further notice.
Employees are still working, but many are having to use their personal cell phones and laptops to get the job done. They are still in limbo waiting to see if any other areas may have been compromised.
“Basically at this point we’re investigating just that to see, you know, what actually may have happened. What part of our environment may have been compromised, if any,” said Porterfield.
Right now the county is working with MSP and the FBI to get answers.
While everyone is anxious to find out more, it’s not a quick process.
“It’s an ongoing investigation so we’re still waiting for reports to come in as well.”
If you need to reach anyone, Porterfield said to stop in until the phones are working again.