N.J. county offices reportedly breached by ransomware gangs

An unidentified ransomware gang has reportedly attacked the Police Department of Camden County, N.J., causing numerous criminal investigative files and internal administration services to be inaccessible, according to WNBC-TV. The incident was confirmed by Dan Keashen, a spokesman for the department, who said the attack began three weeks ago but did not cause "any disruption or outages in its public safety response services to the Camden City Community," such as the 911 call systems. Meanwhile the department "is working with information technology and law enforcement professionals to ensure there is no remaining threat in our network," Keashen said. Sources with knowledge of the matter claimed that the perpetrators made a ransom demand in exchange for unlocking the affected files, which allegedly included electronic police files whose unavailability has been delaying investigations. Several sources also claimed that the Camden County Prosecutors office has had some files affected by a similar incident. The department is currently being aided in its investigation by the FBI, New Jersey State Homeland Security's office, and the New Jersey attorney generals office.