NEW YORK – A cyberattack on an upstate New York county computer system raised concerns that some absentee ballot requests, sent by email, might not be processed, but the state Board of Elections said that voting will not be affected in general.
The Oct. 18 cyberattack encrypted about 200 computers operated by Chenango County and the hackers demanded a ransom of $ 450 per computer to unlock the files, Herman Ericksen, the county’s chief information technology officer, said Monday. “We are not paying the ransom,” he said.
Last week, the county Board of Elections issued a public statement urging anyone who had submitted an absentee ballot request by email, since October 15, to call the board to verify that it was had received. The statement said that the cyber attack would not affect the vote in any other way because “the board has layoffs that will allow the safe and effective administration of the general elections.
“It was not an attack on the electoral system,” said State Board of Elections spokesman John Conklin.
Erickson said affected computers are being cleaned to remove the malicious program and all software is being reinstalled. The county’s email system was down for several days but is back online, he said.
The US State Police and Department of Homeland Security are investigating the attack, which appears to have originated in Hong Kong, Erickson said.
Chenango County is part of the 22nd Congressional District in central New York, where Republican Claudia Tenney is in a tight race with U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi, a Democrat who ousted her by fewer than 4,500 votes two years ago.
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