Pennsylvania Democrats have been locked out of their computer system since Friday, when IT workers discovered ransomware on their network.
As of this morning, the Senate Democrats’ computer network and email system were still inaccessible. No other group in the Pennsylvania capital building appears to have been impacted by the cyberattack.
The group’s information technology workers are still trying to restore access to the network, which reportedly contains many documents ranging from case files to policy work. Microsoft and the FBI are now working together to investigate the breach and find out how the network was penetrated, and where the attack originated.
The big story here, though, is that the undisclosed ransom still has not yet been paid. In fact, as per the FBI’s policy, Democrats have no plans on submitting one.
According to Sen. Daylin Leach, the group has one week to pay the ransom before the data is destroyed.
While the group apparently has the resources it needs to get by in the short term, it is not clear what will happen down the road if constituent requests and state grants get deleted.
"In the short-term, we can sort of make do," Leach stated. "There are some problems long-term."
This is a textbook example of how organizations must always back up critical data and store it offsite in a protected facility. In this case, Democrats are playing hard ball with hackers by not giving into their demands, which is great to see. However, it’s rather difficult to do when you are unprepared to suffer the long term consequences.
We’ll continue to follow the situation and will provide an update once it gets resolved.
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