SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (VVNG.com) — On April 7, 2023, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department sent out a press release confirming they were aware of a “network disruption” affecting a limited number of their systems.
“Upon discovering this incident, the County immediately secured the network and began working with our information technology staff and third-party forensic specialists to investigate the incident,” stated the news release.
Sheriff’s officials said the County has referred the incident to partnering law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Department of Homeland Security.
“The investigation into this matter is ongoing, and therefore, we will be unable to provide further details at this time. The incident has not impacted law enforcement operations, and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department is readily available to provide services and respond to calls,” stated the release.
The Sherrif’s Department public websites such as the dispatch call log were last updated just after midnight on April 7, 2023. The coroner death registration site as well as the coroner’s public website were also last updated on April 6th.
On Monday morning, VVNG contacted the sheriff’s public affairs office via email inquiring when the media logs would be back up. Spokeswoman Mara Rodriguez responded and said she would make VVNG aware when the issue has been resolved.
The Victor Valley Sheriff’s Station posted on social media that they were experiencing a phone outage and to call 911 for emergencies.
According to unverified reports, the cause of the network disruption is due to hackers who are allegedly demanding ransom money in the millions of dollars.
Loud Lab News reported that “an employee accessed malware on a county device, allowing hackers to hack the San Bernardino County servers. The hacker(s) are demanding a 5 million dollar ransom be paid. The server hack is stopping deputies from accessing crucial systems such as the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (C.L.E.T.S.). This system is a computer network that gives police departments access to national databases maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the system also provides law enforcement agencies with the capability to deliver messages among one another.”
VVNG asked the spokeswoman if hackers was the cause and she said there is no further information available and the investigation is ongoing.
This is a developing story and additional information will be updated as it becomes available.
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