MECKLENBURG COUNTY -- A week after hackers froze dozens of files and crippled hundreds of services, Mecklenburg County officials said they've restored 17 services so far. But, they still have a long way to go.

IT staff said cyber criminals infiltrated the system by harvesting user sign-on credentials obtained through a phishing email last Tuesday.

“The criminals then planted ransomware to freeze selected services and then demanded payment,” said Keith Gregg with Mecklenburg County’s technology department.

The county said paying $23,000 ransom would have been easier but it exposed them to several risks such as not knowing if key would unlock all the frozen files or if the key would leave behind another virus.

The county said they're now relying on their back ups to recover.

“Even in the restart process, we are being hyper vigilant to ensure that they look clean but we're running them through the gauntlet of tools to validate that things are ready and of quality use,” said Gregg.

Over the last three years, commissioners allocated $16 million for cyber security efforts but some commissioners say that investment could increase in the future.

Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio said she has lingering questions about how to prevent this from happening again.

“We still really want to try to understand what we need to do going forward to really protect ourselves and really reduce the risk that are systems are attacked again. And for me that’s the thing that continues to go through my head and the thing I continue to think about” said Dena Diorio, Mecklenburg County Manager.

As IT continues restoring system, some Commissioners said they're working to restore their reputation in the community with transparency.

“People understand problems and they just want to know what happened, what are you doing to fix it, and when is it going to be done so we need to be our front telling them that,” said Commissioner Pat Cotham.

Diorio says several departments are still experiencing issues including the tax and assessors offices and code enforcement.