April 3, 2024 at 05:12PM
Jackson County, Missouri, declared a state of emergency following a ransomware attack that disrupted county services, affecting tax payments, marriage licenses, and inmate searches. Both Kansas City and Jackson County Board of Elections remain unaffected. Officials are collaborating with law enforcement and IT experts for investigation. Residents’ financial data was not compromised due to using an external payment service provider.
Key takeaways from the meeting notes:
– Jackson County, Missouri, experienced a ransomware attack leading to disruption of several county services.
– The Assessment, Collection, and Recorder of Deeds offices will likely remain closed until the end of the week, as IT works on restoring affected systems such as tax payment, marriage license, and inmate search.
– The Kansas City Board of Elections and Jackson County Board of Elections are not affected by the system outage.
– Law enforcement, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, are involved in investigating the attack.
– Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr., declared a state of emergency to expedite IT orders and protect against ransomware attack.
– Residents’ financial information was not impacted, as it is securely handled and stored by the external payment service provider, Payit, outside of the county’s network.
– Jackson County has confirmed that myjacksonCounty data has not been compromised.
– Jackson County has a population of approximately 718,000 people living within 616 square miles, including most of Kansas City and 17 other cities and towns.