Minnesota governor sends national guard to county after cyberattack

The Minnesota National Guard has been sent to Winona County after a cyberattack on Monday disrupted “vital emergency and critical services.”

Minnesota governor Tim Walz issued an executive order on Tuesday, writing that the county experienced a cyberattack on critical systems that began on Monday. The attack caused “significant disruptions” and county officials have been working with the FBI, the state’s Information Technology Services and other law enforcement agencies to recover. 

“Unfortunately, the scale and complexity of this incident has exceeded both internal and commercial response capabilities,” Walz wrote. 

“As a result, Winona County has requested cyber protection support from the Minnesota National Guard to help address this incident and make sure that vital municipal services continue without interruption.”

The executive order opens up funding, equipment and other resources that will be used to help the county recover from the cyberattack. 

Officials for Winona County, which is home to about 50,000 people, did not respond to requests for comment. The county has not released any public statement about the recent cyber incident but previously said it was dealing with a ransomware attack in January. 

Walz’ executive order does not say if the two incidents are connected. The county said in a January 23 statement that it identified a ransomware attack requiring help from state and federal law enforcement agencies. Emergency services remained available at the time but Winona County Board Chair Commissioner Meyer signed a declaration of local emergency at the time. 

No further updates were provided after the January 23 statement. 

Scott Sherman, mayor of Winona City, told MPR News that the April cyberattack was only impacting the county government and had minimal effects on city operations.

Walz previously activated the state’s national guard in response to a ransomware attack last year on the city of St. Paul, which is about two hours north of Winona County. The state’s other large city, Minneapolis, has also faced several cyberattacks over the last three years.