How it got into the county system and which department the virus infected remains unknown, according to the county's Information Technology Director Paul Kopreski.
When asked by a reporter which country the virus may have originated from, Strafford County Sheriff David Dubois cut off Kopreski and asked him "to refrain" from answering the question. The sheriff's office has opened a criminal investigation, which involves the U.S. Secret Service, and Dubois felt answering the question could compromise the investigation.
These details emerged during a briefing with Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., who met with the Strafford County commissioners Monday. The roundtable included Dubois and Secret Service Resident Agent in Charge Timothy Benitez. Hassan, who resides in Newfields, is a member of the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. She met with the Strafford County Commissioners and other county officials at the county complex on County Farm Road in Dover Monday morning.
Kopreski told Hassan the attack began early Friday morning on June 28, and the IT staff was alerted by county dispatchers who reported there were issues with the server. Then they noticed files were being encrypted, which was spreading. At that point, IT officials moved to take the county's network offline as soon as possible to save what they could, he told the senator. He said they have restored about 90 percent of the computers on the network.
County Administrator Ray Bower said the county could act swiftly when the virus became apparent because it already had a plan in place that they had practiced. "It enabled the county to continue operations without the computer system," Bower said.
Hassan said she had a keen interest in cybersecurity, and after finding out what occurred, she wanted to know what further efforts the federal government could make to assist in defending against future attacks.
Dubois thanked Hassan for advocating for federal funds to be diverted to local police departments for training in cyber crimes, which he said was helpful in this investigation. "We've collected forensic evidence that we think will be useful in the investigation," Dubois said.
Based on the evidence collected so far, he said investigators have not seen any breach of personal and private data because of the virus.
Strafford County Commissioner Chair George Maglaras said the federal government needs to ensure there are resources available to help local governments combat cyber issues. "This thing is not going to go away. It's going to continue," he said. "I don't view this as any different than someone breaking into my home or your home. I believe the federal government needs to assist us with those resources wherever possible. Without that, we will continue to struggle."
Hassan agreed. "Cybercrime is crime. Cyber attacks are attacks," she said. "It is the same as any kind of other attacks by a foreign agency, and we have to treat it that way."
©2019 the Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover, N.H.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
