US county's experience shows perils of ransomware

Mangum in a control room at the county jail, in Jefferson, Georgia. A ransomware attack in March took down the office's computer system, forcing deputies to handwrite incident reports and arrest bookings. — AP

JEFFERSON, Georgia: On the first Saturday in March, computer screens at the 911 dispatch centre in this small town went dark.

Staff at the county jail around the same time could no longer open cell doors remotely with electronic controls, and sheriff's deputies lost the use of their laptops to look up license plates.