VIGO COUNTY, Ind. — Government computers in Vigo County were hit in a ransomware attack Tuesday morning.
The computers are used by Vigo Co. Superior Court Division 4, according to The Tribune-Star newspaper.
The county’s IT department is working to determine how many computers and servers are affected.
A release from Vigo Co. Commissioners said the attack has caused some data to become “locked down” and inaccessible.
Ransomware is malicious software (malware) that denies access to computers and data until a ransom is paid.
“It encrypts user data…then alerts the user that that information has been encrypted and that if the user wishes to get the key…they are to pay a ransom,” Prof. Eugene Stafford, a computer science professor at Purdue University, told WIBC.
Other local governments have recently been hit by ransomware.
Computers in Pike Township were locked down by hackers in late June.
In LaPorte County, officials paid hackers $132,000 after a July 6 ransomware attack shut down part of the county’s computer system.
Click here to learn more about a ransomware attack could affect your personal information.
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