Author photo

By Garth Meyer
Whitman County Gazette 

County hit by cyber-attack

 

February 4, 2021

Whitman County | whitmancounty.org

Whitman County Courthouse

COLFAX - Whitman County was hit with a cyber-attack as the county's Tax Sifter link reached 8,000 hits in an hour on Jan. 28.

County Information Technology Director Lance Bishop reported to county commissioners Monday about the cyber-attack.

Afterwards, the department installed a captcha to distinguish a human user to prevent such attacks.

It led to the attacks shifting to the county website as a whole. Soon a series of "phishing" e-mails began to arrive, purportedly from established contacts, asking for county users to click on a links.

"We've been under a constant cyber-attack for the last two weeks," Bishop said. "Right now, we're holding our own."

He explained the attacks are common for large companies and organizations. The incidents are not of the level to be reported to state authorities or the FBI.

The attacks were designed to overwhelm the web pages to make it unusable.

"We trust what you're doing to keep those people at bay and not get into our system," said Commissioner Art Swannack.

In addition to adding the captcha, Bishop and his staff are using different anti-virus software and continuing to back up everything.

Reasons for the attack may be varied.

"It could be politically motivated. Some people are just malicious," Bishop said. "It's a malicious act."

The matter is not expected to affect the public, other than perhaps seeing delays on the county website.

"There's a balance between usability and security," said Bishop.

Author Bio

Garth Meyer, Former reporter

Author photo

Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Our Family of Publications Includes:

Cheney Free Press
Ritzville Adams County Journal
Whitman County Gazette
Odessa Record
Franklin Connection
Davenport Times
Spokane Valley News Herald
Colfax Daily Bulletin

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024