Malware attack disables government computer systems in LaPorte

LAPORTE, Ind. – According to LaPorte County Commission President Dr. Vidya Kora, county employees will not have access to any government email or website for at least a couple days.

Authorities say that the county experienced a malware attack that occurred on Saturday morning, disabling computer and email systems.

In press a release on Sunday, Dr. Kora made the following statement:

“Fortunately, our county liability agent of record John Jones last year recommended a cybersecurity insurance policy which the County Commission authorized from Travelers Insurance. We informed Travelers Insurance late yesterday of the malware attack and they immediately referred us to the Wayne, Pennsylvania incident-response law firm of Mullen Coughlin LLC that specializes in responses to such cyber-attacks and coordinates system repairs and protection of our computers from further such virus infections.”

“I participated in a conference call late Sunday morning with Council President Randy Novak, our County Auditor and County Attorney and the IT Department along with the incident response team assembled by Mullen Coughlin to develop a game plan to respond to the attack and come up with an approach to repair our systems and protect them from further damage. Mullen Coughlin will also assist us as we prepare documentation to report this attack to the FBI and other appropriate law enforcement agencies.”

“Mullen Coughlin has dispatched experts who will be arriving on the scene later tonight to assist our County IT department.  I commend our IT Director Darlene Hale and her team for shutting down our systems Saturday afternoon as soon as the malware virus was detected.  Unfortunately, at least half our servers have been infected and it will take some time to fully restore service.  I ask for patience from members of the public as we seek to become fully operational again.”

It is unknown as to who is responsible for the attack.