A spokesperson from the governor’s office confirmed the attack to the Associated Press.
A ransomware attack has hit agencies and commissions within the Virginia legislature, according to a statement from the governor’s office to the Associated Press. Alena Yarmosky, spokesperson for Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, said the governor has been briefed on the attack, which currently affects Virginia’s Division of Legislative Automated Systems, the General Assembly’s IT agency. Yarmosky did not respond to requests for comment about the specifics of the attack. Legislative leaders in the state were emailed about the incident and told that hackers attacked the state systems on Friday. The website for the Division of Capitol Police was taken down by the attack and all of the internal systems for bill drafting or bill referrals were hit hard during the ransomware incident, according to The Associated Press.
