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Suffolk County Police Department is now getting an assist from the New York City Police Department amid an apparent ransomware attack on Suffolk County that began last week.
The announcement comes following a Sept. 8 “cyber-intrusion” during which Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone “out of an abundance of caution” took “aggressive containment measures,” including taking email and web-based services offline.
Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said Monday the NYPD would provide 10 emergency complaint operators to the Suffolk Police to bolster its communications section.
Since the cyber-intrusion, emergency complaint operators now write information on paper rather than inputting it into a computer. The information is then brought to police dispatchers who call officers in the field.
The extra assist from outside agencies is welcome, officials said.
“We’re up and running and making sure we do whatever we have to do regarding public safety in Suffolk,” Harrison said.
Suffolk Police is also partnering with New York State’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Service.
Amid the cyber intrusion, hackers have already posted information onto the dark web, according to published reports. Now, they are seeking a “small reward,” Newsday reported.
Newsday reported that the county had no set timeline for when it would bring operations back online.
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Image and article originally from libn.com. Read the original article here.