LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw told state lawmakers Thursday in Louisville that a recent ransomware attack by Russian hackers won't affect election security in November.

Holsclaw, speaking in front of the Interim Joint Committee on State Government at the Kentucky State Fair, said no voter data or anything related to elections machines was affected.

"Kentucky laws are quite clear on no internet connections for voting machines, and the 2024 elections should not be affected," she said. "... To be quite honest with you, I don't worry as much about elections as I do the other — motor vehicle — simply because there is no way to hack into that equipment, being that there has to be a modem in that equipment and there are no modems to be able to hack into the election equipment."

Cyber hackers claim they stole files Monday, July 22, from the Jefferson County Clerk's Office in a ransomware attack that sent every Louisville branch offline for five days, and the clerk's office said earlier this month those files "may contain" sensitive information.

Jefferson County Clerk's Office Executive Director David Summerfield testified earlier this month in Frankfort that the hackers — operating as the group Ransom Hub — got into the network through a VPN. A ransom note was then left on each encrypted device, but Summerfield said the hackers weren't able to access the cloud-based software where most of the clerk's office's sensitive information is held.

"Hackers were not able to access any of the cloud-based services that host our most critical applications such as motor vehicle titling and registration, voter registration, land records recording and indexing, marriage licenses, budgeting and accounting, Human Resources applications, credit card processing and poll worker recruitment or training," Summerfield said. "These systems were not affected because they don't exist inside the clerk's network."

However, the Russian hackers claim they did obtain something. On Aug. 12, the clerk's office was informed that the hackers posted a message on a dark web blog claiming they obtained files from the clerk's office and a list of those files. Ashley Tinius, a spokesperson for the clerk's office, said the leaked files "primarily consisted" of Microsoft Word files and Excel spreadsheets but that some of it may have included more serious files.

Summerfield said the clerk's office is working to verify or debunk the claims from the cyber criminals but said it's "assuming those claims are true" out of an abundance of caution.

But there's still been a price to pay for the clerk's office. Summerfield said it has cost close to $100,000 for protection remediation efforts. He expects that to price-tag to rise.

To recover from the ransomware attack, Holsclaw said it wasn't as simple as rebooting the system. Crews had to go through more than 300 computers separately to get things back up and running. Because of that, each branch had to come back online at separate times. It wasn't until July 27 that all branches were back open.

She said the clerk's office didn't have cyber insurance, as it's expensive and not very practical for smaller government agencies. She said clerks plan to ask the state for some type of cyber security grant in 2025.

Also in front of the committee at the State Fair on Thursday, other county clerks spoke about election security and a general election update. Tabatha Clemons, Grant County clerk and president of the county clerk's association for Kentucky said a "huge turnout" is expected for the 2024 election. 

She's encouraging voters to be prepared before they head to the polls, saying they need to bring their ID, view a sample ballot beforehand and be sure to understand what they're voting on. 

"I can't tell you the number of people — the last time that we had the constitutional amendment questions — that stood on the phone and trying to read them or they wanted to phone a friend," Clemons said. "Or they wanted to ask our poll workers who cannot advise them." 

She also asked for patience as results come in throughout the evening on election night.

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