Alaskan borough goes back to typewriters after big hack

Official declares cyber attack a disaster

After a devastating cyberattack forced a borough in Alaska to shut down many of its computer systems, officials there turned to an unlikely saviour: typewriters.

Staff in Matanuska-Susitna, a southern borough of Alaska that’s part of the municipality of Anchorage, began relying on typewriters after hackers locked them out of their computers and email server, according to the BBC. The perpetrators used what’s known as a ransomware attack, deploying malicious software to take control of digital systems and then demanding payment from the victims to get their data back. While the town works to bring its systems back online, officials “re-enlisted typewriters from closets” and wrote receipts and lists of library members by hand, according to the Bleeping Computer, a technology website.

The borough said that beginning in mid-July, hackers seized its desktop computers, most of its servers, telephone system and email exchange. On the borough’s home page, visitors are greeted with an arresting banner: “Mat-Su Declares Disaster. Worst of its Kind Cyber Attack.”

Prolonged disruption

Borough manager John Moosey declared the cyber attack a disaster on Tuesday. Moosey told residents at a Borough Assembly meeting that the declaration grants the borough access to its insurance, funds dedicated to emergencies and possibly assistance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The borough anticipates disruptions may continue for a “prolonged time.” The loss of services and productivity, the borough said, is compounded by the high cost of hiring IT specialists and the “great deal of overtime” that the borough is paying out to IT department staff.