Ransomware Attack Disrupts Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Network
Summary
A ransomware attack disrupted the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office network, forcing dispatchers to work from Seymour Police Department and officers to use Word reports. Officials are rebuilding systems; data recovery and any theft remain unclear.
Key points
- Lt. Adam Nicholson said the attack last week made the sheriff’s office computers, Wi-Fi, and report-filing system inaccessible.
- Dispatchers moved to computers at Seymour Police Department, while officers filed reports in Microsoft Word.
- Officials have not identified a suspected attacker, and no public claim of responsibility had surfaced.
- Nicholson said it was unclear how much data on external hard drives could be recovered; files related to the county sex offender registry were among those at risk.
- Nicholson said the malware may have entered through email and remained dormant for a day or two, but public technical findings have not confirmed that account.
- The office is wiping affected computers, replacing hardware, and rebuilding systems. Nicholson said the county would not pay a ransom and hoped to restore report filing the following week.
Article Details
- Victim Organization
- Jackson County Sheriff's Office
- Incident Type
- Ransomware attack
- Disclosure Date
- 2026-03-25
- Affected Records
- Unknown; officials said sex offender registry files and other network records were at risk, but did not confirm that data was taken.
- Affected Data Size
- Unknown
- Operational Impact
- The attack knocked the agency's network offline, making computers, Wi-Fi, and the police report filing system inaccessible. Dispatchers worked from Seymour Police Department computers, officers wrote reports in Microsoft Word, and technicians wiped affected computers, replaced hardware, and rebuilt systems.
- Ransom Or Extortion
- Lt. Adam Nicholson said the county would not pay a ransom. No ransom demand or extortion details were reported.
- Claim Status
- confirmed
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Governmentthat the content was unavailable.The Jackson County incident is the latest in a string of county government cyber disruptions across the country. In March, a ransomware attack hit the DeKalb County Sheriff’sLaw enforcementThe outage disrupted day-to-day law enforcement operations. Nicholson told the student newspaper that dispatchers were working from computers at the Seymour Police Department while officers wrote reports in Microsoft