Tag Archive for: jackson

Ransomware attack delaying Jackson County, Missouri home sales

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INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — She fought for our country. But now a ransomware attack reportedly carried out by Russians has a local veteran whose disabled fighting to be able to sell her home.

It’s the latest effect from a cyber security breach in Jackson County last week.


Jackson County’s website says offices will remain closed at the Historic Truman Courthouse in Independence Wednesday.

A ransomware attack last Tuesday has closed the Jackson County Recorder of Deeds, Assessment and Collections Office. The county said Monday its making progress on restoration and system recovery. But for some that progress can’t come soon enough.

“It’s had a huge impact on our buyers and sellers in particular,” United Real Estate Kansas City Broker Marta Grace said.

The buyer of Jae Ramsey’s Independence home was hoping for an early closing.

“They told me to get out by April 1st, so I said OK, I did,” she said.

She hired movers with closing originally set for April 4, two days after that ransomware attack.

“They had like ten people in my house taking everything. I have no idea what I even have anymore,” Ramsey said.

Now she’s living with a relative waiting for proceeds from the sale of her home now set to close Thursday. But there’s no indication whether the Recorder of Deeds will open by then or how quickly they’ll get through at least a weeks worth of work missed.

“They are unable to close so the lenders won’t fund. They won’t lend you the money if they cannot record it with the county,” Grace explained.

“Primarily it’s we don’t know when they are going to get to close that’s caused the confusion and kind of a catastrophe,” TG Homes in the Heartland Owner Tina Groumoutis said.

Contracts to sell homes have expiration dates to close by. In Ramsey’s case that deadline is quickly approaching.

“He could very well get cold feet and say I don’t know what’s going on over there, but I’m good I’ll find something else,” Groumoutis said of the…

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Ransomware recovery efforts continue Monday in Jackson County

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County’s Assessment, Collection and Recorder of Deeds offices will remain closed Monday as the county continues to restore network infrastructure following a ransomware attack.

The attack was first reported the morning of Tuesday, April 2. Two days later, the county identified the attack was triggered by a “malicious e-mail link.”

RELATED | Cybersecurity expert gives insight into ransomware attack on Jackson County systems

Monday’s closure will allow the county’s IT professionals to continue recovery efforts by “prioritizing the security and stability” of the affected systems, per a news release from Jackson County.

“We recognize the impact this decision may have on our residents and want to assure them that it was made with careful consideration,” the county shared in the release. “Our commitment remains steadfast in swiftly resolving this situation and minimizing any inconvenience to our community.”

As the offices have been closed for nearly a week, the county said it is grateful for the community’s “continued patience and understanding during this challenging time.”

Updates regarding the reopening of the offices will be “promptly communicated,” per Jackson County.

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Jackson County legislator’s email not connected to ransomware attack

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An email sent from Jackson County Legislator Sean Smith was sent to roughly 50,000 voters on Friday.

The email is not related to the ransomware attack in Jackson County on Tuesday.


“It did not dawn on me that people would be concerned with its legitimacy because of the hacking issues that we had in Jackson County,” Smith said. “But yes, that’s me with a tool that we use at the county for email newsletters and stuff all the time. It’s all pretty safe and secure It’s absolutely separate from all of the county networks that we’ve had issues with.”

The email contains a link that leads to a survey. The survey asks voters how they voted on Tuesday’s “Question 1” and why they chose to vote that way.

“It’s a little weird. I don’t know why you’re sending out emails trying to figure out how people voted,” Broderick Jones said. “Whatever it was, it happened the way it happened, and that’s the way it is. Keep moving.”

Smith told FOX4 that he’s collecting the data because he’s “optimistic that we’ll eventually be in talks again with the teams and we need to understand what people’s concerns were in order to have any success going forward.” Leading up to the vote, Smith thought that the county was “not as ready as we’d like to be,” saying that the data will help him understand his constituency better. “Having data and information about why people have the preferences and concerns they have is the best way for me to represent them.”

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Coverage Challenges in Ransomware Claims: Cyber Insurance Policies and Trends in Denials | Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP

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A consistent pattern emerges in data breach and cyber-attack cases when companies turn to their insurers for coverage after such incidents. Whether they possess specialized cyber insurance or not, insurers often decline claims, citing various reasons such as failure to provide timely notice, failure to mitigate costs, employee misconduct or criminal activity leading to the breach, or attributing the losses to a party not covered by the policy. This holds true for both General Casualty or Liability policies (GCL) and specialized cyber liability insurance policies, covering damage to electronic assets.

On December 22, 2022 the Ohio Supreme Court in EMOI Servs., L.L.C. v. Owners Ins. Co. ruled that an Ohio medical billing company’s cyber insurance policy did not cover a ransomware claim for damages because the insured could not demonstrate that there was “physical harm or damage” to the computers which housed the data, as required by the terms of the policy. The electronic policy noted that the coverage included:

“When a limit of insurance is shown in the Declarations under ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, MEDIA, we will pay for direct physical loss of or damage to “media” which you own, which is leased or rented to you or which is in your care, custody or control while located at the premises described in the Declarations. We will pay for your costs to research, replace or restore information on “media” which has incurred direct physical loss or damage by a Covered Cause of Loss. Direct physical loss of or damage to Covered Property must be caused by a Covered Cause of Loss.”

The insured argued that since the ransomware made the data inaccessible and unusable, the media suffered damage covered by the policy language. However, the Ohio court disagreed.

EMOI Servs., L.L.C. v. Owners Ins. Co. Case Overview

EMOI is an Ohio-based company assisting hospitals with medical billing, resulting in the handling of personal data, financial data, and Protected Health Information. In September of 2019, EMOI was the victim of a ransomware attack, where the attackers locked up files and demanded ransom. After obtaining a “test key” from the hackers to unlock a single data file,…

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