Minnesota County Hit by Second Ransomware Attack After Officials Pay $128,000

A Minnesota county is recovering from two ransomware attacks that struck its systems months apart. The second hit came after officials paid $128,539 to get out of the first one.

Winona County says different cybercriminals hit again in April, reports MPR News.

Unauthorized access in the first incident ran from January 18th to January 22nd of 2026. Ransomware was detected on January 22nd.

Maureen Holte, Winona County administrator, explained the decision to pay.

“It was after careful consideration and also guidance from our cybersecurity team. Winona County negotiated and paid a fee of approximately $128,000. About $50,000 was covered by insurance, and about 78,000 was out of county levy money.”

Emergency services stayed up in both attacks, though some offices went back to pen and paper.

The January breach involved names, addresses, Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses, medical details, law enforcement reports, financial information and for some people payment card data.

Notifications began mailing May 12th of 2026. The county is working with the FBI. The April attack is still under review. No ransom figure has been released for that one. A separate notice is planned.

The county says it is strengthening defenses to prevent future incidents.

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