Cyber attack shuts down NC Native American tribe’s network, one arrested, chief says
Computer networks and websites for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians were still down Tuesday morning after a cyber attack targeted the North Carolina tribe’s systems over the weekend, according to tribal officials.
One tribal member, who was employed by the Eastern Band of Cherokee, was arrested in the attack, according to Principal Chief Richard Sneed. He called the incident “an act of domestic terrorism.”
“Our tribal networks were attacked with ransomware that began to infect all of our tribal systems,” Sneed said in a video posted to Facebook Monday. “This attack was not made just against the EBCI tribal government but an attack directed against every tribal citizen and employee.”
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that can shut down or deny access to networks or data until the victim pays a ransom, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“As a result of the rapid response of our I.T. employees, the damage was contained. However, as a result, our servers are now powered down to protect our systems and data. The network will continue to be powered down so that the appropriate steps may be taken to ensure the security of our network,” Sneed said.
Sneed declared a state of emergency for the tribe as it works to get its computer networks back online.
He said emergency services are still operating and that the tribe’s financial data was secure. “There may, however, be a delay in services while we work with the software company to implement temporary access to that system while preserving the security of our data,” Sneed said.
Police arrested Benjamin Cody Long, 36, in connection with the cyber attack, according to the Cherokee One Feather.
Long is charged with “tampering with public records and obstructing government functions,” according to WLOS.
The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are helping tribal police in the investigation, the chief said.
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 9:47 AM.
