Winona County Pays $128K Ransom After Cyberattack, Faces Second Attack Months Later
Winona County, Minnesota, negotiated and paid a $128,539 ransom following a cyberattack on its IT network in January. This incident forced the county to pause some operations, reverting to manual processes. The decision to pay the ransom was made after careful consideration and guidance from their cybersecurity team, aiming to restore services and protect personal information. Approximately $50,000 of the ransom was covered by insurance, with the remaining $78,000 sourced from county levy money. Just months after the January incident, the county was targeted by a different group of cybercriminals in April. This highlights a growing trend of sophisticated cyberattacks against federal, state, and local governments, as indicated by the state’s 2025 Cybersecurity Incident Report. The report notes 269 public entities and government contractors in Minnesota reported possible cybersecurity incidents last year, including Rochester Public Schools in 2023 and the city of St. Paul last summer. 
