Wayne County, Michigan, home to over 1.75 million residents and including Detroit, is grappling with a cyberattack that has disabled numerous government services. The attack, which was first reported by WXYZ, has taken down the county’s websites and disrupted critical functions, including financial transactions, case management, and estate sales.
Doug Lulgjuraj, a spokesperson for the county, told local affiliates that while the website remained offline as of Thursday afternoon, he expects it to be “fully operational” by Friday. Once restored, residents will regain access to online services like property tax payments and property records. In the meantime, impacted services have shifted to backup processes to maintain operations.
The hack is also affecting the judicial system, with WXYZ reporting that it is preventing jail inmates from being bonded out. Defense attorneys are struggling to schedule visits with clients, and the websites for the Wayne County prosecutor’s and clerk’s offices remain down.
While Lulgjuraj did not confirm if this was a ransomware attack, the county’s IT team is working with the FBI and Michigan State Police to assess the situation. This comes just months after a ransomware attack in August hit the City of Flint, Michigan, disrupting its network, telecommunications, and payment systems.
