Cyberattack on Georgia County’s Computer Infrastructure Prompts Statewide Election System Access Severance

The computer infrastructure of Coffee County in Georgia, a county at the center of efforts to claim fraud in the state’s 2020 presidential election, was hit by a cyberattack earlier this month. The attack prompted state officials to cut off the county’s access to statewide election systems. The incident, which was detected by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, led to the county declaring a cyber incident and taking steps to secure its systems.

State election officials shut down Coffee County’s access to Georgia’s statewide voter registration system and other state systems as a precaution. This is the second incident in Georgia where IT infrastructure has been breached in counties involved in legal battles related to former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results.

The extent and impact of the cyberattack on Coffee County are still unclear, as well as the identity of the malicious actor behind it. County officials have been responding to public records requests by stating that the county archiver is down for maintenance. This incident raises concerns about the security of election systems and the potential for future attacks on voting equipment.