Computer Virus Infects Computer System of Police Department in Durham

Fosters.com reported on 7th June, 2014 stating that a computer virus tainted the servers and computer network of Durham Police department (North Carolina, US) on Friday, 6th June, 2014 and its writers insisted for a ransom to remove it.

Fosters.com published a report on 7th June, 2014 quoting Todd Selig, Town Administrator, as saying that information Technology workers of the town has taken the department's computer system offline to thwart the spreading of the virus to other systems. Scrubbing software, which was installed on the systems on 6th June, 2014, seemed to have cut off the malware."

Officials of Town believe that the virus entered Police Department's computer system when a staffer opened a genuine looking attachment on late Thursday (5th June, 2014) night and by the morning of June 6, 2014, there was indications of widespread computer troubles.

By around noon, Dave Kurz, Chief of Police, described the computers of the department as "dead in the water," as published by fosters.com on June 7, 2014.

All files of Durham's police department are backed up. They can also be reloaded.

Wmur.com published news on 6th June, 2014 quoting Luke Vincent, Durham's Manager of Information Technology, as saying "a virus namely Cryptowall managed to evade spam filters and anti-virus software of the town."

Officials confirmed that criminal record system was not affected and there was no threat to the community at any hour.

Cryptowall and Cryptodefense viruses are similar to CryptoLocker virus which is malicious software that encrypts hard drive of the user effectively locking all data which will be unlocked only after paying ransom money.

The final cost has not been estimated yet but it could range somewhere between $2000 and $3000. Unionleader.com published a report on 7th June, 2014 quoting Selig as saying "The event was a reminder for staff and police about the dependence on computers for regular business."

Selig advised residents and area businesses to install updated anti-virus software and be cautious while opening any file attachments in emails. He also advised to follow the mantra: "Delete it in case of doubt" via an email about the virus on Friday (6th June, 2014) afternoon.

» SPAMfighter News - 6/13/2014