Hit by cyberattack, southern Indiana county still recovering, learning what was compromised

BEDFORD, Ind. (WDRB) — An almost invisible enemy has targeted a southern Indiana government.

In Lawrence County, EMA Director Valerie Luchauer, Sheriff Mike Branham and others are dealing with the aftermath of a cyberattack that damaged "multiple critical systems." Employees in several county offices realized Thursday they could no longer log in to the county's shared computer network. Some phone lines were dead, too. 

"I think they find it as a challenge to see what they can do," Luchauer said. "You know, sometimes we don't know, really, what's in the minds of these people.

"Well, I think the writing's been on the wall for quite some time now," Sheriff Branham added. "Cyber security is, you know, I've heard it called that's where the next battlefields are — in the cyber world."

Despite almost constant efforts to fix the problems since Thursday, not much has changed. 

"The good news is we have our 911 systems are still up and running," Sheriff Branham said. "We're able to answer those calls, and our radio systems are up and running, so we're able to contact all of our public safety people."

Sate investigators are now helping the county restore its network and find out who's responsible for the attack. Meanwhile, county leaders are taking other precautions in case hackers target its payroll next.

"That was one of the first things that we did, and the auditor's office called anyone that we do banking with," Luchauer said. "I know that watches have been put on all those accounts."

Luchauer and Sheriff Branham said the cyberattack is a teaching moment that others can learn from, too.

"Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy," Luchauer said. "Don't count on one backup. Have multiple ways to back up your crucial data, and so if you lose one you've got the other."

County officials don't yet know when the systems will be up and running again. IT experts are still working around the clock to figure out what all was compromised, officials said. 

While the system is down, Sheriff Branham said county workers are using a reliable resource: paper.

"We can still work on paper with what we do, so we'll get caught up once we're restored," he said. "We're keeping paper logs of everything we would normally do on the computer."

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• Cyberattack on Lawrence County, Indiana, compromised 'multiple critical systems,' officials say

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