LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) --Â As the Jefferson County Clerk's office recovers from a ransomware attack, some may be wondering whether their information really is safe.
Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw has said no personal information was compromised in the attack, but a cybersecurity expert said the county may not even know yet for sure that nothing was obtained by the hackers.
"That's really the rare exception. Most times, they're going to steal the information too, in case you're told not to pay, and then they're going to use the information to extort you in other ways or sell it to other entities who will buy it from them, so, hard to say if they actually got the information or not. But I'd be shocked if they didn't," Ira Feuerstein, Telesystem Cybersecurity expert, said.
Feuerstein said even if the hackers didn't gather personal information from the Jefferson County Clerk's Office, there is something all residents should do first thing in the morning.
"Get with the three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union and immediately freeze all their credit reports. Everyone should get that done, regardless," he said. "Because what that does is that disallows anyone to run credit under your name if they've gotten your personal information."
Feuerstein said if Jefferson County had a proper backup system that has been thoroughly tested, the county could possibly avoid having to pay the hackers but, he said, oftentimes that isn't the case.
As for catching the perpetrators, he said there's no chance. Usually they are working in countries like Russia, North Korea, Iran and China, often supported by their governments.
The clerk's office announced locations would be closed Monday night, saying simply it was due to an unexpected system outage. Officials later found that the outages were due to a ransomware attack that started around 2 a.m. July 22. Â
County officials don't know the types of files being held hostage, or what's being demanded to unlock them, but said no personal information has been leaked. The clerk's office has already said all branches will remain closed Thursday.
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