The attack hit in mid-March and encrypted files used in criminal investigations, delaying some investigations, per NBC.
The malware also interrupted day-to-day internal administration activities.
Technicians are working to restore affected systems. As of late last week, 80-85 percent of files had been unlocked, one official told NBC.
The ransomware did not disrupt 911 call systems or other “public safety response services,” a police spokesperson reportedly said.
Camden County is continuing to respond to the attack.
The police department “is working with information technology and law enforcement professionals to ensure there is no remaining threat in our network,” spokesman Dan Keashen told NBC.
The incident isn’t the first cyber attack impacting police this year — or the only one Camden County government fell to last month.
The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office also suffered a cyber attack in March. The office is working with professionals to ensure the network is clean of malware, a spokesperson told The Record. The office, too, said that public safety response services were not disrupted.
Several notable cyber attacks have impacted law enforcement this year already, including departments in Modesto and Oakland, Calif.
MODESTO COMPUTERS DOWNED, PII STOLEN
Modesto police saw their personal information stolen — with some allegedly leaked — and lost use of some tools like computers after attackers breached defenses.
In late January or early February 2023, attackers penetrated Modesto police’s IT network and “hobbled” it, per the Modesto Bee.
Effects included downing patrol vehicles’ mobile data computers, preventing police from using them to check for individuals’ criminal histories or outstanding warrants. Officers also had to revert to manual methods for writing traffic tickets and reports.
The department has been working to repair. A spokesperson reportedly said that “nearly all” of the network was restored as of April 6, “including the laptops in patrol vehicles and the department’s desktop computers.”
The damage doesn’t end there, however, and hackers also have begun leaking what they say is personal data stolen from the city.
The city reportedly said ransomware actors may have accessed details like addresses, driver’s license numbers, names and Social Security numbers, almost all of it about police department employees.
OAKLAND POLICE SUE AFTER PII LEAK
A February 2023 ransomware attack offlined a number of city systems in Oakland, Calif., and stole data. The hackers began leaking data in an effort to pressure the city into paying extortion.
On a dark web site, attackers claimed the initial batch of leaked info included stolen private and personal confidential data, financial information, IDs, passports, employee full info, and human rights violation information, per Bleeping Computer.
The leaked information reportedly includes 12 years of employee data and exposed records related to police misconduct allegations, Social Security numbers, home addresses, birth dates and driver’s license numbers.
The police union is now suing the city for what it deems failures to adopt “reasonable, industry-standard security protocols for its information systems,” and seeks $25,000 per impacted employee.
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