No disruption in service, says E9-1-1 director
May 13, 2020
Although some databases at Barry County’s E911 center were corrupted by malware about 12:35 a.m., May 6, Mike Phillips, Executive Director, assures residents service was not interrupted.
“We received calls from people who had heard our service was down, so we want to let people know that’s not the case,” he said. “The malware damage did not impact our service.”
According to Philllips, when operators began noticing files on their computers with odd extension names - which are an indication of possible corruption by malware - they were able to immediately disconnect from the internet and isolate the corrupt files to one server.
“The affected files primarily contained historical data, including employees’ email addresses and lists of department equipment,” he added.
“We immediately began rebuilding our database, but some of the files were large, so it took some time. We had most of the database restored by 8 p.m., May 6, though.”
According to Phillips, all files were accounted for, and no personal or protected information was released. “We have steps in place to prevent malware infiltration,” he said, “and we’re reviewing those protections to see what areas we can strengthen.”
“Barry County E9-1-1 recognizes the duty we have to protect and serve our citizens and the work we do with our emergency partners,” he continued, “so we want to address any concerns citizens have regarding rumors they may have heard.
“We received calls from people who had heard our service was down, so we want to let people know that’s not the case,” he said. “The malware damage did not impact our service.”
According to Philllips, when operators began noticing files on their computers with odd extension names - which are an indication of possible corruption by malware - they were able to immediately disconnect from the internet and isolate the corrupt files to one server.
“The affected files primarily contained historical data, including employees’ email addresses and lists of department equipment,” he added.
“We immediately began rebuilding our database, but some of the files were large, so it took some time. We had most of the database restored by 8 p.m., May 6, though.”
According to Phillips, all files were accounted for, and no personal or protected information was released. “We have steps in place to prevent malware infiltration,” he said, “and we’re reviewing those protections to see what areas we can strengthen.”
“Barry County E9-1-1 recognizes the duty we have to protect and serve our citizens and the work we do with our emergency partners,” he continued, “so we want to address any concerns citizens have regarding rumors they may have heard.