A major cyberattack has severely disrupted government operations in Fulton County, Georgia. The attack, discovered over the weekend, has knocked out phone service, internet access, courts databases, and other critical systems across Fulton County government offices.
Officials say the outage has brought some services to a complete standstill, including the ability to process tax payments and access court records. The district attorney’s office prosecuting former President Donald Trump has also been impacted.
Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts said at a Monday news briefing that the cyberattack caused a “system outage” across county departments. The county IT department is working to restore systems but there is no estimate yet on when services will return to normal.
Law enforcement is actively investigating the incident’s origin and scope. While the motive remains unclear, officials say they have not found evidence so far that sensitive citizen or employee data was compromised.
The shutdown of court databases and justice systems has severely limited access to public services like marriage licenses, property transactions, and firearm registries. With phones and internet disabled, most Fulton County offices are operating in an analog-only mode or have closed.
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The outage has affected the district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting former President Trump on election interference charges. DA Fani Willis has lost access to phones, internet, and court systems. But officials say there is no known connection between the cyberattack and the Trump case.
Cyberattacks on state and local government systems have become increasingly common in recent years. Security experts say governments often lack resources to defend against hacking threats. Ransomware attacks, where data is encrypted until a ransom is paid, have extracting millions from some cities.
Fulton County officials say they are working diligently to restore services. With the investigation ongoing, few details have been released about the attack’s precise nature or origin. For now, Fulton County residents will continue facing disruptions for critical services.