Suffolk County police are calling in outside law enforcement to help sort through a recent ransomware attack. Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said he has temporarily increased the number of people answering 9-1-1 calls to include staff from NYPD and the state’s Department of Homeland Security.
The county shutdown its web-based services last week after malware was detected on its computer systems. On Friday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said the county fell victim to what looked like a ransomware attack. Hours later, a hacker group known as ALPHV posted to its website a sample of documents and threatened to release 4TB of files if Suffolk officials “continue to remain silent”.
Nine sample documents were posted. They include a marriage certificate, a sex change application request, a contractor payment voucher and several documents from Traffic and Parking Violations Agency.
The group’s website claims to have “huge databases of Suffolk County citizens” personal data. The sample posted online contains full names and addresses.
