A cyberattack on website host U.S. Next has taken down Madison County’s website and dozens of other Mississippi government websites
, Miss. —
A cyberattack on U.S. Next, the website host for Madison County and 68 other Mississippi government websites, has caused an outage.
In a Facebook post, Madison County officials confirmed the website outage and attributed it to the cyberattack. Other affected counties include Warren, Hinds and Clarke.
Retired FBI special agent Richard Kolko said the attack appears to be a ransomware incident.
“These groups of cybercriminals based overseas find a way into the computer system. They put malware, they get in there and lock down the data, and then they demand a ransom to release the data,” Kolko said.
Kolko explained that ransomware attacks have become more frequent in recent years, with government offices, academic institutions, and hospitals being common targets.
“They can get your name, your address, your number, possibly your Social Security and date of birth. These are all the elements needed to do identity theft,” Kolko said.
Mississippians use Madison County’s website to pay bills, taxes, tickets and more.
County officials stated that no data has been compromised in this attack.
However, Kolko advised residents to take proactive steps to protect their personal information.
“People have to monitor their own credit reports, their own personal information. It’s always good to change your passwords, it’s always good to have two-step authentication, it’s always good to make sure the security patches are updated on their computer,” Kolko said.
This incident follows a recent cyber intrusion that shut down Vicksburg’s computer systems, preventing customers from paying their water bills online.
The FBI reported that more than $77 million was spent in 2025 trying to recover from internet crimes. Kolko said Mississippi must take further steps to protect its digital data.
“It’s expensive, but it needs to be done. They find companies that can help them recover some of that data, but it does not always work, and they may be back at square one,” Kolko said.
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety stated that it is aware of the attack and is working with local and federal partners to assist in the investigation. DPS clarified that it is not a customer of U.S. Next, so its operations have not been affected by the breach.
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