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Ohio police, fire department data wiped out by ransomware attack

The Riverside police and fire departments have been hit by a cyberattack twice in the last few weeks

By Police1 Staff

RIVERSIDE, Ohio — The U.S. Secret Service has launched an investigation into two cyberattacks that wiped out data from a city’s fire and police departments.

Hackread reported that Riverside’s fire and police departments were first attacked on April 23, when the departments’ computer systems were compromised and sensitive data was recorded, including information from ongoing investigations.

The departments were attacked again on May 3 and the systems were infected with malware, which caused the U.S. Secret Service to begin an investigation.

City manager Mark Carpenter confirmed that the second attack led to a ransomware infection, but it was unclear how the attack took place.

The city said it is unclear if a ransom was demanded from the attackers, but Carpenter said eight hours’ worth of data was wiped from the servers.

“Everything was backed up, but we lost about eight hours’ worth of information we have to re-enter,” he said. “It was our police and fire records, so we just re-enter the reports.”

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