ATLANTA — A ransomware group threatened the Fulton County Government weeks ago claiming that unless officials paid up, it would release sensitive information. Thus far, no information has been released, but county leaders said some of its systems are still offline.
A spokesperson with Fulton County Government said there would be a “more comprehensive update” released as more systems are expected to come online this week.
It said it’s aware some third-party background checks needing a review of police report records that are having issues. It also added a restoration for that system is in progress. 11Alive asked for a timeline of the progress but did not receive a response yet.
“You just kind of feel like you've been thrown under the rug and just forgotten about,” said Zach, a former Fulton County resident, who said the lack of communication is frustrating.
Zach had to stop working when his background check didn’t clear. He estimated the time off lost him $5,000 so far.
“Actually, this car that I'm sitting in is the Tesla that I actually bought to drive Uber, where you get higher paying rides if you have a classier car, and I haven't been able to do that for the past month,” said the now-Seattle resident.
Like Zach, Jasmine also previously lived in Fulton County and is stuck in limbo waiting for her new job to start. She said she was initially hired on Feb. 22 with a March 4 start date.
“One of the hiring managers at the casino I was going to be working at informed me that it hadn’t cleared yet, and so I couldn't start. So, I was just like, OK, that's never happened before,” she said. “And so, I was almost to tears because I'm facing homelessness.”
Jasmine said, because of the unexpected break between jobs, she can’t make rent and has to move out of her apartment.
“I literally have to get out by tomorrow and literally go into a shelter,” she said, as she started crying. “And I've never had to do that before in my life. And I'm scared, but this is all I can do.”
Jasmine said she now has to fit anything she wants to keep in one suitcase. She said the most frustrating part, is not knowing when this will be fixed.
“I don't know if this is going to take another two months. If it's going to be done tomorrow. It's always a bunch of uncertainty, and I've never had to do this before,” said Jasmine. “And it is very scary, as a woman, by herself, having to face homelessness. It’s not something that I ever thought I would have to deal with honestly.”