Jackson County offices were closed for a second day on Wednesday because of what might have been a ransomware attack on their IT systems.
According to a statement from the county, “early indications suggest operational inconsistencies across its digital infrastructure,” meaning that some systems have stopped working while others are still working normally.
A new statement says that the county’s assessment, collection, and recorder of deeds offices will be closed until further notice. Tax payments and online property systems were harmed, as well as systems for getting marriage licenses and looking up people in jail.
The county made it clear that the system failure did not affect the Kansas City Board of Elections or the Jackson County Board of Elections. Almost 60% of voters turned down a plan for three-eighths of a cent sales tax for 40 years. The money would have paid for a new stadium for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball and repairs to Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs.
The situation was reported to the police, and outside information technology security experts were brought in to help with the investigation and fix the problem.
A computer science professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Sajal Das, told The Center Square, “Hackers find holes in the system, and it’s a shame what happened in Jackson County.” When this happens to a state or local government body, on the other hand, you can quickly separate them. To shut down the system, I think Jackson County did a great job. Taking that first step is the best thing to do.
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The Democratic leader of Jackson County, Frank White, praised the workers for their quick reaction.
In a statement, White said, “The quick action our staff took today shows how strong and ready our staff is.” “Our IT department really impressed me with how quickly and decisively they worked to protect our systems and limit the damage.”
The county said that a preliminary look into the case showed that no data was lost or stolen. It also said that it does not store or handle private financial information on its system, but instead uses PayIt to do so.
According to a statement from PayIT that Jackson County gave them, “Jackson County works with PayIt to offer resident engagement and payment services for property taxes, marriage licenses, and other different payable items.” “Jackson County systems do not host the service, and we have confirmed that the incident has not had any effect on the myJacksonCounty system.”
The county said it would be open to the public, but it wouldn’t say much more because police and computer experts are still looking into it.
“Even though they don’t show themselves, most of these hackers are very good at what they do,” Das said. “They’ll look for cracks all the time.”
In a letter sent to state leaders last month, the White House warned them that Iran and a cyber group backed by China could launch “disabling cyberattacks” on U.S. water and wastewater systems.