Winona County announced on April 9 that it detected and responded to a ransomware attack on its computer network earlier this week. The incident was discovered on April 7, prompting immediate action by county officials.
The situation is significant as it has affected the county’s computer systems, leading to potential delays in public services. However, emergency services such as 911 fire and emergency resources have continued operating without interruption.
According to the statement, Winona County began an investigation right after detecting the incident and engaged nationally recognized third-party cybersecurity and data forensics consultants. The FBI and Minnesota cyber resources were also notified about the breach. In response, “the County has taken affected systems offline while we work to secure and restore services safely.” Officials said that a Local State of Emergency was declared so that all necessary resources could be accessed quickly. As part of these efforts, assistance from the Minnesota National Guard—including a specialized cybersecurity team—was requested and received.
The county emphasized its ongoing commitment to IT security protocols: “Because cyber threats are evolving and pervasive, we are continuously working to identify and mitigate threats when they occur.” At the time of this second incident, improvements were already being made to the network infrastructure. “In fact, those improvements helped us to detect this incident, investigate and take steps to recover,” officials said.
Preliminary findings indicate that this ransomware attack is not connected with a previous cyberattack against Winona County. Due to the ongoing criminal investigation into this matter, no further details are available at present.
Officials stated they will continue monitoring developments closely: “We are actively monitoring the situation and will provide updated information as it becomes available.”
