Georgia’s largest county confirms cyberattack causing widespread issues
Fulton County, Georgia — home to Atlanta and over 1 million residents — confirms a cyberattack that disrupted county phone, court, and tax systems.
Fulton County government disclosed a widespread IT outage caused by a cybersecurity incident discovered over the weekend, affecting phone systems, the court system, and the tax system, including firearm and marriage license transactions. County Chairman Robb Pitts said the incident is under active investigation by law enforcement, and the FBI confirmed its involvement. The Tax Commissioner office in downtown Atlanta was closed and library public computers were offline. No group has claimed responsibility, though the article notes recent ransomware attacks on other Georgia local governments, including Forsyth County (AlphV) and Augusta.
- Fulton County, Georgia's most populous county with 1M+ residents, confirmed a cybersecurity incident causing system outages.
- Phone, court, and tax systems were disrupted; firearm and marriage license transactions were affected.
- The FBI is involved; the investigation is in early stages with limited information released.
- Other Georgia governments, including Forsyth County and Augusta, suffered ransomware attacks in recent years.
Full article354 words · extracted from therecord.media · click to collapse
The most populous county in Georgia is dealing with an IT outage caused by a cyberattack discovered over the weekend. Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts held a press conference Monday explaining that the attack affected county office phone systems and online transactions, including those involving firearm and marriage licenses. “Over the weekend, the Fulton County government learned of a widespread system outage. At this time, we can confirm that the incident was a result of a cybersecurity incident,” Pitts said, adding that it is “under active investigation” by law enforcement.. “That investigation is still in the early stages. So we'll be providing limited information at this time. However, we do want our citizens to be aware that a number of our primary technology platforms are affected by this incident. Three notable examples include our phone system, our court system, and our tax system. We do not yet have a specific timeframe for when these systems will be restored.” Fulton County has more than 1 million residents and is home to Atlanta. The FBI told local news outlets that it is involved in the investigation of the attack. The county website has a notice urging residents to email Fulton County Customer Service if they have any questions while their phone systems are down. Most Fulton County offices are open but the Fulton County Tax Commissioner in downtown Atlanta was closed on Monday. Many other offices will be limited as the IT department works to resolve the outages. Public computers at county libraries were out of service on Monday but appear to be back as of Tuesday. Local news stations said residents ran into widespread issues when they showed up to dispute property taxes or go to the DMV. No group has taken credit for the attack, but last year Georgia’s Forsyth County faced off against the AlphV ransomware gang. The government of Augusta, Georgia also dealt with a ransomware attack in June that disrupted city systems. Several other institutions — including the Georgia State Bar and Savannah College of Art and Design — have dealt with cyberattacks in the last two years.
Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://therecord.media/fulton-county-georgia-atlanta-cyberattack-causing-outages