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Hack attacks are 'relentless, nonstop' says state official

Tech chief says State Patrol hack recovery is underway

ATLANTA — State officials say the state is recovering more rapidly than expected from a ransomware attack on the Georgia State Patrol computer system.

The hack cost the Georgia State patrol much of its ability to quickly communicate with troopers in the field - and put a cyberscare into much of the rest of state government. But its reach isn’t as far as officials first feared.

"For us, we’ve seen worse. And we’ve definitely been able to begin recovery a lot sooner than we expected," said the state's chief information security officer David Allen. 

PREVIOUS: Georgia Dept. of Public Safety computers knocked offline by malware

He told 11Alive the Georgia Technology Authority is still investigating how the hack penetrated the state patrol’s computer system. 

The GSP’s inability to use the onboard laptops in about a thousand patrol cars is forcing troopers to use two way radios and cell phones to reach calls and get information.  

MORE: What is Ransomware?

It also gave pause to another state law enforcement agency — the GBI, which was not affected by the hack, but is investigating this one. 

"This isn’t an attack. This is a relentless nonstop method of attacking," said GBI director Vic Reynolds. "When you look at it from that perspective, we are overwhelmingly successful in defending against those. But it only takes one."

RELATED: GEMA: Malware discovered within its computer system

Allen says hackers routinely penetrate government computers. But he says government employees routinely thwart hacks by not clicking links or files that appear suspect. 

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