Jefferson County clerk waits for 'dark cloud' to lift as ransomware attack follows backlogs, long lines

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw sat in her office Wednesday in downtown Louisville lamenting the "dark cloud" that seems to cover her branches this summer.

All systems down at branches across Jefferson County after hackers installed malicious software, locking files and demanding money. The clerk's office announced offices 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.

"It came as a complete shock," Holsclaw said Wednesday.

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.

"I think there's a cloud, a dark cloud around the clerk's office right now," Holsclaw said.

The clerk's office said this is not tied to the CrowdStrike failure last week that caused offices around Jefferson County to close, prompting confusion and inconvenience for residents trying to renew their vehicles, and apply for marriage licenses and businesses licenses. It's also not tied to the massive backlogs facing Kentucky's new vehicle information system — KAVIS — in Frankfort.

"We're doing our best to try to get back up so we can move on," Holsclaw said.

The switch to KAVIS happened in January and it has caused transactions to hit a traffic jam. Kentucky shut down all registrations Jan. 1 so it could make the transition. It caused a lot of roadblocks by disrupting decals, plates, disabled parking permits, registrations or transfers until mid-January.

The former system, Avis, had been used by the state's motor vehicle administration for nearly 50 years. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had been trying to switch to the new KAVIS system since 2001, but now that it has made the transition, wait times ended up being extended by 25 minutes earlier in the year.

And to recover from the ransomware attack, Holsclaw said it's not as simple as rebooting the system. Crews have to go through more than 300 computers separately to get things back up and running. Because of that, she said, each branch will likely come back online at separate times.

"I just hope the public knows that we're doing everything we can possibly do to remedy the situation," she said.

In the meantime, Holsclaw encourages people to get help from neighboring clerk's offices — like Bullitt, Oldham or Shelby counties — in the case marriage licenses or vehicle registration renewals. Any mortgage or deed business will have to wait, because the legal department in Jefferson County has to handle those items.

Holsclaw emphasized that no personal information has been compromised and she will let people know as each one is back online.

Related Stories: