(TNS) — While investigations are still ongoing following Monday’s cybersecurity attack on Winona County, emergency services are unaffected.
During a press conference Friday morning, Winona County officials said progress is being made to address the crisis, but they could not discuss details of the ongoing investigation.
“We are working closely with local, state and federal partners to determine who is responsible. Out of respect for that process, I won’t be discussing investigative details today,” said Ben Klinger, Winona County emergency management director. “But, I do want to express our appreciation for the speed, professionalism and coordination of those teams here at the county level. Our information technology staff has been working around the clock since this began.”
Klinger said the county’s Department of Motor Vehicles and vital statistics systems are offline and that neighboring counties can assist residents with DMV services.
“We made the decision to take parts of our network offline to contain the threat. This step was necessary to protect our systems, even though it created a disruption,” Klinger said. ”The work of Winona County continues with or without computers. We are restoring systems in a phased approach. That means systems, when verified and secure, will come online individually. We’re not waiting for everything to be fixed before we bring services back online.”
The full scope of county departments and systems affected was not clear. It was also undisclosed whether any personal data had been breached.
While some services may still be offline, officials said emergency services are up and running.
“Let me be very clear on this critical point — if you call 911, you will get a response,” Klinger said. “Our emergency services, law enforcement, fire, EMS, dispatch are operating and responding to calls.”
The incident is the second cybersecurity attack in Winona County this year.
The county announced Jan. 23 that it had been the target of a ransomware incident that affected its computer network.
Winona County Board Chair Chris Meyer declared a local emergency in response to the most recent attack.
“Cyber attacks are not unique to Winona County — they are happening across the country to governments, hospitals, schools, and private businesses,” Klinger said. “The people working on this, from our local staff to state and federal partners, are committed to seeing this through. They are not going to stop until we have answers and our systems are fully restored. We don’t have all those answers today, but we are making progress every day.”
Officials said they were doing all they can to help the county recover.
“We ask for your patience and understanding from our residents as we work through this,” Klinger said.
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