St. Louis County to boost cybersecurity after hack
CLAYTON — The St. Louis County Council approved an emergency measure Tuesday to spend $5 million to improve the county’s cybersecurity after hackers temporarily shut down law enforcement systems last month.
The money will be used to find and fix weaknesses in the county’s systems, purchase new technology and hire consultants to transfer the information technology capabilities from servers to the cloud, among other improvements, said Councilman Ernie Trakas.
The spending will drain the county’s emergency savings, but it’s worth the expense, Trakas said at the council’s regular meeting Tuesday night. The money can be used for “unforeseen emergencies,” according to state law. But what qualifies as an emergency is broad and can be defined by the County Council.
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“What greater emergency do we have right now than a vulnerable IT system?” Trakas said.
The council approved it unanimously.
The attack in mid-September targeted a computer system used to look up court cases, issue charges and process people in custody at the jail.
Police officers, jail officials, the county counselor, municipal court officials and the prosecuting attorney’s office all use the Regional Justice Information System, or REJIS.
Fox News recently offered readers a guide to internet security and different forms of cyberattacks. Malware is an often-used abbreviation for malicious software, or software developed with malicious intent.
