Hernando County working to restore services after hacking attack

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - On Friday, April 12, Hernando County officials gave an update on a recent cyberattack that knocked many services offline:

"Today, Hernando County became aware of public posts from cyber criminals claiming to have obtained data during the network interruption recently experienced, confirming we were the victim of a ransomware attack. The County is cooperating with state and federal law enforcement and a team of cybersecurity experts to investigate the claims and the full nature and scope of the incident. At this time, we are unable to provide further information regarding the actions of the cyber criminals but we are working diligently to investigate this. Our team is also working around the clock to resolve the interruption and bring our internal and external facing systems back online. We are making steady progress, and the Hernando County website is up to date with current statuses.

We understand how challenging this time has been for residents and businesses in Hernando County, and sincerely appreciate your continued patience and cooperation as we investigate and remediate. The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our highest priority, and we are committed to working tirelessly until the interruption is resolved."

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Hernando County said it has fallen victim to a hacking attack that has a number of its county services offline.

"Hernando County government recently experienced an interruption of countywide IT network," County Clerk Doug Chorvat said in a statement.

On the still-functioning parts of its website, the county has listed all the services that are and are not operational. For instance, all libraries are open, but planning and zoning are doing business by paper, code enforcement is accepting complaints by phone but the property appraiser's site and office are closed. 

READ: Popular Hernando County beach park reopens months after shutting down from Idalia damage

The County Clerk's Brooksville office is open, but its Spring Hill office directs taxpayers to call their needed department.

"With proper time and resources, most of these bad actors can get into any network," said Austin Berglas, a former FBI cyber detective and the global head of professional services at BlueVoyant.

As far as who is behind the attack, Hernando County has opened an investigation. They can't say yet when everything will be back up and running.

Sources said the FBI is involved and that the possibility this was an attack from overseas is being weighed. It's also unclear whether those responsible want money to allow the websites to function again, or if they have accessed taxpayers' private information.

"Most likely it was some hacking group, some ransomware group that is financially motivated," said Berglas.

Berglas said the threats to websites run by governments at every level will be persistent, and that it takes manpower and resources to defend them. Hernando County's clerk had a few words of reassurance in the video he released.

"Essential functions of public safety have and continue to remain operational," said Chorvat.

Hernando County's website ordinarily gets 2.5 million visitors per year. Apparently, one of them was ill intentioned.

For information on the status of Hernando County's services, click here.

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