Georgia Department of Public Safety Hit By Ransomware Attack.

"A ransomware attack late last week left the Georgia Department of Public Safety and Georgia State Patrol computers offline," reports a local news station.

Lt. Stephanie Stallings, GSP spokesperson, said a message popped up on an employee's computer, prompting preventative measures to shut all server networks down. The servers have been offline since [July 26th]. The Georgia State Patrol's tech division, the Georgia Tech Authority, which handles network and serves, is now checking every device in all 52 state patrol post locations across the state to see if more devices are affected.... The state said Georgia Tech Authority is downloading new protective software on all devices, which are purposely offline until further notice.

Stallings said it's still business as usual. Staff and officers are doing their jobs in the traditional way using paper that they used in the days before having laptops in patrol cars...

News4Jax found there were 184 million ransomware attacks worldwide in 2018


ZDNet reports the attack has crippled laptops installed in police cars across the state. And long-time Slashdot reader McFortner shares their own story:
When I went in to get a copy of an accident report this Friday, the officer at the Henry County, GA, police department told me that at least 7 counties in the Atlanta area were hit at the same time and they had no way of knowing when their computers would be back up. They suggest to anybody needing a report to call them first to see if by any chance the system is back up and the report is finished and can be picked up.