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06/15/2026
UPDATE: Murray County pays $200k to ransomware attackers to ‘resolve’ cyber breach
Local 3 News
UPDATE: Murray County paid ransomware attackers $200,000 to “resolve” a cyber attack that disrupted several different county systems.
Sole Commissioner Noah Bishop sent a note to our newsroom saying they made the decision with the guidance of a team of nationally recognized third-party cybersecurity and data forensic consultants:
“[W]e made the difficult decision to pay a $200,000 fee because we believed it was the necessary approach to best serve the interests of County residents and employees. We felt strongly that this was necessary to prevent the publication of County data and give some peace of mind to our residents.”
Local 3 News spoke with a Chattanooga-based cybersecurity consulting firm, the Ionado Group, about the attack.
"It is a digital hijacking situation. A ransomware attack is where an actor will take control of computing resources and data and locks the legitimate users out until they are paid. It is basically like changing the lock on your storage unit and demanding payment to get back access to your own property," said CEO Lemon Williams of the Ionado Group.
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