Cyber attack halts operations at Lawrence County Recorder’s Office

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) - The Lawrence County Recorder’s Office is unable to access its online records system after a cyber attack on Christmas Day. The office uses a Columbus, Ohio-based vendor for its online records system. Lawrence County Recorder Sharon Gossett Hager says that the system was taken offline when suspicious activity was detected.

“They noticed suspicious activity on their files and immediately shut everything down,” Hager said.

Hager says that the system has been offline for a week while investigators from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security work to get to the bottom of the issue. While the system remains offline, files will not be accessible.

“To this point, we don’t believe any of our files were compromised. So for the residents of Lawrence County, they don’t need to have any concern about their home deed or mortgage or whatever,” Hager said.

The outage also means that the recorder’s office is more than a week behind on work. It is still unknown when the records system will be restored.

“I can guarantee the people of Lawrence County that when our computer system becomes available, my staff members and I will be working hard,” Hager said.

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