SPARTANBURG — Cybersecurity experts from the State Law Enforcement Division are investigating Spartanburg County’s recent network and internet disruptions, said SLED spokeswoman Renée Wunderlich.
The assist is coming from South Carolina Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, which is “a SLED-sponsored initiative with the mission of providing critical services and cybersecurity intelligence to South Carolina’s private and public critical organizations in order to help mitigate, prevent, and respond to cyber incidents,” according to its website.
The team isn’t made up of SLED agents, but instead civilian subject-matter experts, Wunderlich said.
The county first announced the network disruption on June 11.
“Last week, after identifying some questionable activity on its computer infrastructure, the county took the immediate precaution of initiating a protocol to isolate and protect its networks,” Blackwell said in an email on June 17.
“As a result, many county services were made unavailable for access,” Blackwell added. “This was an important and necessary security step to provide the county and its consultants the opportunity to confirm and enhance security measures. As confirmations are completed, systems are being made available for access.”
While the county hasn’t fully explained what caused the questionable activity and is still examining the issue, the county has twice been attacked by cybercriminals in recent years.
A 2023 ransomware attack all but shut down the county’s court system. And last summer, cyberattackers accessed employees’ and civilians’ personal data, resulting in the county offering affected people a year’s worth of free credit monitoring.
The county is still working to recover its network after last week’s problem.
“We understand and apologize for the inconvenience caused by this important and detailed process,” Blackwell said. “We appreciate the public’s patience while this work is completed.”
