It is nothing to sneeze at, Barton County Brian Bellendir told the Barton County Commission Monday morning.
An email-borne virus infected the Barton County Sheriff’s Office last week, wreaking havoc with many of the computers there. Lost were documents, spreadsheets and photographs stored on the BCSO server.
“There will be no impact on criminal investigations,” Bellendir said. Criminal, tax and civil process records were safe.
But, officers lost letters, news releases and other items dating as far back as the first of the year. Also, wiped out were many emails dating back two years.
Bellendir said the virus came in an official-looking email from the “administrator.” It could have been from County Administrator Richard Boeckman or from the county’s network administrator.
“It was camouflaged,” the sheriff said. Within the message was a zipped file which, when opened, launched the assault.
Apparently, Bellendir said, such attacks are becoming more common. The Kansas Sheriff’s Association has noted there have been other such viruses targeting law enforcement agencies.
This was a “ransom” virus, he said. A message came saying that if they paid $300, the computers would be released.
The claim seems to be for real. But, “I pay no ransom,” he said.
From here on out, Bellendir said they will backup their servers more frequently.
Boeckman said the county has an “aggressive” spam filter. But, the spammers are getting more sophisticated.
The virus has been eliminated, after much effort from the county’s Information Technology Director John Debes.