Georgia's Fulton County restores affected services following a LockBit ransomware attack

Fulton County in the US state of Georgia says it has made significant progress in restoring a number of County services that were impacted as a result of a LockBit ransomware attack.

 

In January, Georgia’s Fulton County suffered a significant cyber security incident that paralysed several key systems connected to the county’s administrative network. The attack reportedly affected vital services, including court filings, tax processing, and communication channels.

 

According to local news reports, the security incident also affected the office of District Attorney Fani Willis, severing access to phones, internet, and the court system’s website.

 

Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts also confirmed the widespread impact of the cyber attack, noting that communication, court, and tax systems were compromised. Access to critical services such as property tax transactions and justice system functions like firearm registries and marriage licenses were limited.

 

The county’s Department of Information Technology was working to address the issue, as confirmed in a statement on its website. The FBI team in Atlanta also acknowledged the incident, stating that it collaborated with Fulton County’s IT department, though specific details about the cyberattack remained undisclosed.

 

In a recent press release, Fulton County said that its IT department has made significant progress in the restoration process. The IT teams restored the Fulton County water billing system as well as the GIS mapping functionality, ensuring that most County phones are working normally.

 

The elections process was not affected by this incident and county officials confirmed that voters may continue to participate in early voting and Election Day voting as normal.

 

“Property owners may submit homestead exemption applications online or in person at fultonassessor.org. Property tax payment may be made by check in the offices of the Tax Commissioner’s office. Online payments are not available at this time,” reads the press release.

 

The County added that its justice system is operational and many processes are taking place using backup systems. Anyone who received a court summons should appear and bring their summons with them. First appearance hearings are also taking place in person at the Fulton County Jail.

 

“The safety and privacy of our citizens is of utmost importance, and we are taking this situation very seriously as our team continues to investigate,” the County said.

 

“We are committed to a comprehensive investigation, and our teams are working to understand what specific information may have been affected as a result of this incident. If we determine that peoples’ personal information was involved in this incident, we will make all legally required notifications.”

 

The notorious LockBit ransomware group claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on Fulton county and listed it as a victim on its data leak site. However, around February 29, the group removed the county’s listing from its website.

 

According to Brett Callow, a threat analyst at Emsisoft, the hacker group claimed to have received a ransom from Fulton County. Refuting such claims, Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts said, “We have not paid any ransom. Nor has any ransom been paid on our behalf.”

 

 

Pitts added that the threat of the exfiltrated data being published is not over and that the group “could release whatever data they have at any time. Today, tomorrow or sometime in the future. We have no control over that.”