The Henry County Courthouse and Sheriff’s Office went dark on Monday when a cyber attack took down the network. On March 18, 2024, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that the phones were down at the courthouse and the Sheriff’s Office due to a “critical network problem.” Emergency 911 phone lines were not affected by the problem, nor was the public safety radio network. The cyber attack included the county-wide Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and the Records Management Systems (RMS). Because of the attack on CAD, Kewanee Police have been unable to create the police blotter reports that they send to media outlets daily.
“While the investigation into this incident and the corresponding recovery and restoration efforts remain ongoing, the cyber response team has made incremental, but important, progress in bringing systems back online in a secure manner. In the interim, public safety agencies across the county are leveraging pre-established operational continuity measures to provide essential services,” according to the joint release from Henry County Public Safety Agencies.
The Henry County Information Systems Department immediately initiated its cyber response plan and isolated the affected systems. Multiple law enforcement agencies and government cybersecurity agencies are assisting Henry County with an investigation. According to the release, the cyber response team does not believe personal data was compromised or disseminated from the attack. However, public safety leadership wants to inform citizens of the incident so they can take the necessary precautions and monitor their personal information. You are asked to contact your local law enforcement and financial institutions if you detect any suspicious activity in your credit reports or financial accounts.
The release said that additional information will be provided if the investigation determines that information was disseminated outside of the network.
