By 
A ransomware attack has hit an Alabama power provider, leaving customers without access to their account information.
Wiregrass Electric Cooperative, which serves nearly 25,000 members, announced that no data was impacted by the attack, but member account information and payment systems were taken offline for maintenance as a precaution.
Chief operating officer Brad Kimbro said that the company did not pay a ransom and didn’t have any data compromised in the attack, adding that electrical service wasn’t disrupted.
He, however, said that member account information and payment systems were taken offline for maintenance and as a preventive measure.
“Our IT guys spent all weekend out of an abundance of caution looking at every server, every laptop, every computer, everything,” Kimbro said.He said that customers could continue having sporadic problems due to issues like broken links to websites. The Dothan Eagle reported that the utility said it won’t disconnect service for customers with prepaid accounts during the disruption.
Ransomware attacks are carried out by cybercriminals who gain access to a computer system and then demand ransom. While thousands of companies were affected in at least 17 countries in an extensive attack that started Friday through software produced by Kaseya, the utility dropped the company’s products several months ago.
Alabama Electric Cooperative, which offers service in all or parts of five counties, announced on social media that it was upgrading its computer systems last week prior to the assault.