MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. – Although the 1 p.m. deadline has passed, Mecklenburg County is still in communication with the hackers who are holding files for ransom.
County servers have been frozen since Tuesday, causing a massive systems outage after an employee opened an email attachment.
The hackers are demanding two bitcoins, roughly $23,000, in exchange for the county's information. Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio says she is planning to make a decision about whether to pay the ransom by the end of Wednesday.
"There's always a risk that they won’t give you the decryption code and you don’t get your files, there also the risk, if they think you'll pay, they may try to come back to you again because they think, 'Well they’re going to pay so let’s go back for more,'” Diorio says.
She also says she doesn’t know how much it would cost to fix the system themselves or where that money would come from in the county’s budget.
Regardless of the direction they take, she says it will take days not hours before the situation is resolved. Officials say the attack originated in Ukraine or Iran.
The county has hired two outside cyber security firms to work with its internal security on the situation and the FBI is aware of the investigation.
It is unknown if the email from hackers was sent to other departments.
We're told North Carolina's Chief Information Officer and Secretary of Public Safety have offered their help at the governor's request.
Due to the hacking, all customers who have made a transportation reservation through DSS or MTS must call 704-336-4547 to confirm transportation.
The City of Charlotte issued a statement which reads: "City of Charlotte systems have not been impacted by the breach. City servers and Mecklenburg County servers are on completely separate systems. The city's Innovation and Technology department has taken steps to ensure the security of the systems. The city has severed direct connection to Mecklenberg County systems, including email. The city does not share its security measures or protocols. The City of Charlotte constantly assesses security measures and makes adjustments as necessary."
How you can protect yourself or company from being a victim of hacking?
From Tom Bartholomy of the BBB:
- For most of us, our personal emails at higher risk this time of year because hackers will pretend to be UPS, FedEx or USPS and send emails saying your pkg is delayed or not coming or whatever.
- Don't panic and click on those links.
- First hover over it, do not click. By hovering, you can see what the URL box that pops up says. Sometimes that could reveal right away that the link is taking you to something other than UPS, FedEx or USPS website.
- If you've gotten confirmation emails for your orders, always go through the confirmation or tracking numbers.
- Reach out to the merchant directly if you have any questions.
From Tariq Bokhari, new City Council member and cyber security expert:
- Don't click on the link
- Anyone and everyone can be a target
- Training is important for any organization - send out reminders about phishing scams
- We, employees, are the first line of defense