The Homestead resort in Glen Arbor was hit with a ransomware attack late last month. Although Homestead staff acted quickly to contain the cyberattack and prevent a breach, the incident is yet another case of cybercrime in northern Michigan.
“Evidence of the attack was found on the morning of June 19,” Homestead owner Bob Kuras told the newspaper Friday. “Nothing was breached. We also took action to protect our customer’s information and restore our data. … The hackers managed to get our prime systems and our backup systems, so we replaced them with new servers on the same day.”
Kuras said that he spoke with “friends in Washington” after the cyber-attack, who identified the perpetrators as “a Russian group.” In the wake of the ransomware attempt, Kuras said that Homestead’s information technology staff is actively working to improve their systems security to protect their customer’s data.
This attack occurred shortly after the June 12 ransomware attack on Grand Traverse County and the City of Traverse City. This incident led officials from the neighboring county to temporarily shut down the county and city’s computer network, and the time of writing, they still haven’t been fully restored.
The ransomware attack in Grand Traverse County also affected Leelanau County, as the 86th District Court and 13th Circuit Court serve the tricounty area and are linked to the Grand Traverse network. Court proceedings in Leelanau County are limited to arraignments and actions on personal protection orders.
