RAPID CITY, S.D. – Pennington County officials say all county departments are once again operational following a ransomware attack discovered during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
The county says unauthorized activity was detected on its computer network on July 4. Investigators later determined hackers had gained access to county systems and deployed ransomware, prompting IT staff to take servers and other systems offline to contain the breach.
Since then, county employees have worked alongside cybersecurity specialists and state and federal agencies to investigate the attack, restore services, and strengthen network security.
While all departments are back online, some systems and public services remain limited as recovery efforts continue. County officials have not provided a timeline for when all services will be fully restored.
The county says it is using lessons learned from the incident to make additional investments in cybersecurity technology, employee training, and other security measures. Officials also thanked the South Dakota National Guard Cyber Incident Response Team, the FBI, and other partner agencies for assisting with the response and recovery efforts.
