The Stanislaus County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services computer network was compromised on Tuesday by malware in the form of a ransomware attack, according to county officials. The network has been shut down and isolated from the County-wide network while online services and communication are being provided by other means temporarily, and client care has continued.

BHRS staff remains focused on providing quality care while County IT technicians work to identify a solution and reestablish normal operations for the department. All 24 BHRS locations throughout the county are seeing patients and phone service is fully functional. A full list of services and locations can be found at: http://www.stancounty.com/BHRS/. Clients are encouraged to keep their appointments and may call the County's Emergency Support Service line at (209)558-4600, available 24 hours a day.

Stanislaus County is diligent about proactively securing information technology systems, and has mitigated attempted ransomware attacks in the past, the particular techniques used in this attack were able to get past the security mechanisms that are in place.

Forensic analysis is occurring along with restoration efforts, with the intention of assuring that all County PCs are well-defended against future attacks of this nature. Until that work is completed, all BHRS computers are being held in quarantine to prevent any further infection.

No breech of personal information has been detected at this time. County authorities are working with the FBI on a criminal investigation of cyberterrorism.