The county stated Thursday that close to full operations at its offices were expected to resume Friday.
The county’s public-facing systems were restored in phases.
People might still experience some delays though, as a backlog is worked through.
People needing to visit a county office are asked to call ahead to confirm that employees will be able to assist them.
“We remain committed to minimizing the impact on residents doing business with the county,” the county stated Thursday. “We are incredibly grateful for our community’s patience as we work to recover from this incident.”
Parts of the county’s network were pulled offline in an attempt to limit the ransomware threat, including the county’s vital statistics and Department of Motor Vehicles systems. Emergency services were not impacted.
The county received assistance from the Minnesota National Guard in response to the attack, which was the second conducted against the county this year.
The first ransomware attack was announced in January and is believed to have been done by a different cyber criminal, according to the preliminary investigation into the second attack.
A local state of emergency was declared for both attacks.
©2026 The Chippewa Herald, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
