County acknowledges sophisticated cyberattack public safety taosnewscom
pMostly cloudy early then periods of showers this afternoon High 64F Winds S at 5 to 10 mph Chance of rain 50
ppConsiderable cloudiness with occasional rain showers Low around 45F Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph Chance of rain 60pp Updated October 13 2025 547 amppJONATHAN BLAUSTEINTaos NewsppTaos County Administration offices are quiet on Monday morning the day before officials publicly acknowledged the hack which had compromised Taos County data June 30ppJONATHAN BLAUSTEINTaos NewsppHandwritten signs about the continuing internet outage were no longer on the front door of the Taos County Administration Building on Monday morning June 30ppppJONATHAN BLAUSTEINTaos NewsppTaos County Administration offices are quiet on Monday morning the day before officials publicly acknowledged the hack which had compromised Taos County data June 30ppJONATHAN BLAUSTEINTaos NewsppHandwritten signs about the continuing internet outage were no longer on the front door of the Taos County Administration Building on Monday morning June 30ppTaos County Administration services have been limited or ceased to function due to a suspected ransomware attack first reported June 5ppCounty officials have remained mostly quiet until this week as several internet sleuths uncovered evidence suggesting Russianbased hacking group Kairos was behind the attack holding nearly 2 terabytes of data hostageppTaos County Manager Brent Jaramillo released a statement Tuesday July 1 confirming what had occurred but giving few detailsppâTaos County has been working around the clock with cybersecurity specialists to fully restore affected systems from the recent network disruption while also conducting a thorough investigation according to the statement We have made significant progress in restoring affected systems and to date county core systems and functions are fully operational and open to serve county residents Although our investigation into the incident and its impact remains ongoing we are able to confirm that the incident was a result of a sophisticated cyberattackppAt this time we have not identified any evidence of attempted or actual misuse of the countyâs data the statement added We continue to work with state officials and federal law enforcement to complete our investigation Upon completion of our investigation we will promptly notify any individuals impacted as required We continue to greatly appreciate the communitys continued support patience and understanding as we navigate this incidentppAccording to the website Comparitech âKairos is a ransomware group that first began listing the targets of its ransomware attacks on its dataleak site in November 2024 However unlike many other ransomware groups Kairos does not encrypt the systems it infects Instead it focuses on stealing data and then extorting organizations by threatening to sell or release itppâKairos has taken credit for four confirmed ransomware attacks since it began plus 35 unconfirmed attack claims that havenât been publicly acknowledged by the targeted organizations Kairos made 22 of those unconfirmed claims this year according to ComparitechppJaramillo also issued a separate comment addressing the internet speculation which readsppâWe understand some may be inquisitive regarding the details of the network outage Although we cannot confirm the details alleged in the article we can confirm that the incident was the result of a sophisticated cyberattack and we have been working closely with cyber specialists state and federal resources to respond to this incident Due to the nature of this incident and our ongoing investigation we are unable to share any additional details at this time However upon completion of our investigation we will be in a position to share more information with our communityâppWhen reached for comment about the investigation the public affairs officer at the FBI Albuquerque Division responded âexcept in rare cases FBI policy prohibits me from confirming or denying any investigation but the public should be assured that the FBI takes seriously cyber intrusions that could compromise national securityâppFurther information provided by the FBI states âThe FBI does not support paying a ransom in response to a ransomware attack Paying a ransom doesnt guarantee you or your organization will get any data back It also encourages perpetrators to target more victims and offers an incentive for others to get involved in this type of illegal activityâppThe court system has been hit particularly hard during the outage as a lack of access to internal servers prevented the District Attorneyâs office from providing complete discovery for the recent pretrial detention hearing for Jonathan Morales who is accused of aiding the alleged murder of Leroy RodriguezppAleksandar Kostich a public defender representing Morales said âthere was some discovery provided but in my opinion not what would have enabled me to have a fair opportunity to cross examine the witnesses to do the other defense work that needed to be done in the case at this stageâppBarry Massey chief communications officer for the state Administrative Office of the Courts said precautionary measures were to blameppâAs a precaution the Judiciary has blocked emails from Taos County and the county has no access to judicial systems such as online court records Massey said in an email As a result the exchange of certain documents now occurs manually rather than electronicallyâppJudge Ernest Ortega presiding judge at the Taos Magistrate Court confirmed the court system was using analog workarounds which slowed things down significantlyppâWith our court cases theres been just a major disruptionâ Judge Ortega said âbecause we work very closely with the Sheriffs department and with the Adult Detention Center And so things that we would normally do online we do in person including arraignments from the jailâppFurthermore Judge Ortega said The Sheriffs Department either doesnt have any computers or they might have one computer that theyre working with and so the paperwork with them is slower and the processes with them is slowâ because some documents were being written by handppThe real estate industry continues to be hard hit as well No new mortgages have been recorded in the county since the outage beganppRed River resident Mark Stewart said heâs in the middle of selling his place in Red River and buying a home in Questa â but both transactions are frozenppHe was frustrated because there has been so little publicly available information during the fourweek ordealppâI just cant understand why theres nothing but radio silence coming out of Taos County when so much personal data is at riskâ Stewart saidppâIâd appreciate if you print that what Taos County is doing is totally unacceptable I mean we pay their salaries We should be able to get answers to questions but their phones are down They dont answer emails They dont answer reportersâppStewart said some in the real estate industry have lost income during the outageppâI know a few realtors from church and you know the realtor thats got the listing of the house weâre buying in Questa she hadnt been able to complete a transaction for over a month he said Among other things theres plenty of people that are not able to make any money right now because they cant do their job because Taos County you know their servers are closedâppâIf the stories are true that all of this data was copied he added Am I going to get a call from my credit card company three months from now saying âHey theres a 9000 charge in Russia on your accountââppâI guarantee you if when my property tax comes due I called the Taos County tax assessor up and said âHey man Im sorry but somebody broke in and stole all my postage stamps I cant get a check to you in the mailâ â Im pretty sure they may want a few more answers besides thatppYour comment has been submittedppppReportedppThere was a problem reporting thisppppIt is funny that Taos County Manager Brent Jaramillo said in this report We have made significant progress in restoring affected systems and to date county core systems and functions are fully operational and open to serve county residentsâppYet there is still no access to Clerkâs Office Land Record Lookups and in fact they are still not even answering their phones Iâm curious just what he considers core systems and functions and how they are serving county residents when they canât even answer their phonesppppItâs concerning to hear this described as a âsophisticated cyberattackâ especially when thereâs been total silence about it until now Iâve personally been trying to pay my property taxes and havenât been able toâno explanation no updates just a broken system And when it does come back online how are we supposed to trust that our payments and personal information are secureppAlso was CivicPlusâthe vendor that runs the countyâs websiteâaffected or involved in any way If so the public deserves to know what role they played and whether their systems were part of the breachppA little more transparency would go a long wayppppIn this day and age why would Taos countys would be so open to any cyber attack especially when you are trusted with personal information of county residents court and police data It is beyond me that this continues to act react as if this is still the age of analog I certainly expect a clear and concise report sooner then later detailing the exposure to each concerned person party and departmentspp
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ppThe following is a condensed list of reports made to Taos Central Dispatch within the Town of Taos from Oct 1 Oct 5 2025 Oct 1 942 amppYour browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risksWe recommend switching to one of the following browsersppSorry an error occurredppppAlready SubscribedppppppCancel anytimeppAccount processing issue the email address may already existppppThank you ppYour account has been registered and you are now logged inppCheck your email for detailsppInvalid password or account does not existppSubmitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your passwordppAn email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your accountppNo promotional rates foundpppppp
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ppConsiderable cloudiness with occasional rain showers Low around 45F Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph Chance of rain 60pp Updated October 13 2025 547 amppJONATHAN BLAUSTEINTaos NewsppTaos County Administration offices are quiet on Monday morning the day before officials publicly acknowledged the hack which had compromised Taos County data June 30ppJONATHAN BLAUSTEINTaos NewsppHandwritten signs about the continuing internet outage were no longer on the front door of the Taos County Administration Building on Monday morning June 30ppppJONATHAN BLAUSTEINTaos NewsppTaos County Administration offices are quiet on Monday morning the day before officials publicly acknowledged the hack which had compromised Taos County data June 30ppJONATHAN BLAUSTEINTaos NewsppHandwritten signs about the continuing internet outage were no longer on the front door of the Taos County Administration Building on Monday morning June 30ppTaos County Administration services have been limited or ceased to function due to a suspected ransomware attack first reported June 5ppCounty officials have remained mostly quiet until this week as several internet sleuths uncovered evidence suggesting Russianbased hacking group Kairos was behind the attack holding nearly 2 terabytes of data hostageppTaos County Manager Brent Jaramillo released a statement Tuesday July 1 confirming what had occurred but giving few detailsppâTaos County has been working around the clock with cybersecurity specialists to fully restore affected systems from the recent network disruption while also conducting a thorough investigation according to the statement We have made significant progress in restoring affected systems and to date county core systems and functions are fully operational and open to serve county residents Although our investigation into the incident and its impact remains ongoing we are able to confirm that the incident was a result of a sophisticated cyberattackppAt this time we have not identified any evidence of attempted or actual misuse of the countyâs data the statement added We continue to work with state officials and federal law enforcement to complete our investigation Upon completion of our investigation we will promptly notify any individuals impacted as required We continue to greatly appreciate the communitys continued support patience and understanding as we navigate this incidentppAccording to the website Comparitech âKairos is a ransomware group that first began listing the targets of its ransomware attacks on its dataleak site in November 2024 However unlike many other ransomware groups Kairos does not encrypt the systems it infects Instead it focuses on stealing data and then extorting organizations by threatening to sell or release itppâKairos has taken credit for four confirmed ransomware attacks since it began plus 35 unconfirmed attack claims that havenât been publicly acknowledged by the targeted organizations Kairos made 22 of those unconfirmed claims this year according to ComparitechppJaramillo also issued a separate comment addressing the internet speculation which readsppâWe understand some may be inquisitive regarding the details of the network outage Although we cannot confirm the details alleged in the article we can confirm that the incident was the result of a sophisticated cyberattack and we have been working closely with cyber specialists state and federal resources to respond to this incident Due to the nature of this incident and our ongoing investigation we are unable to share any additional details at this time However upon completion of our investigation we will be in a position to share more information with our communityâppWhen reached for comment about the investigation the public affairs officer at the FBI Albuquerque Division responded âexcept in rare cases FBI policy prohibits me from confirming or denying any investigation but the public should be assured that the FBI takes seriously cyber intrusions that could compromise national securityâppFurther information provided by the FBI states âThe FBI does not support paying a ransom in response to a ransomware attack Paying a ransom doesnt guarantee you or your organization will get any data back It also encourages perpetrators to target more victims and offers an incentive for others to get involved in this type of illegal activityâppThe court system has been hit particularly hard during the outage as a lack of access to internal servers prevented the District Attorneyâs office from providing complete discovery for the recent pretrial detention hearing for Jonathan Morales who is accused of aiding the alleged murder of Leroy RodriguezppAleksandar Kostich a public defender representing Morales said âthere was some discovery provided but in my opinion not what would have enabled me to have a fair opportunity to cross examine the witnesses to do the other defense work that needed to be done in the case at this stageâppBarry Massey chief communications officer for the state Administrative Office of the Courts said precautionary measures were to blameppâAs a precaution the Judiciary has blocked emails from Taos County and the county has no access to judicial systems such as online court records Massey said in an email As a result the exchange of certain documents now occurs manually rather than electronicallyâppJudge Ernest Ortega presiding judge at the Taos Magistrate Court confirmed the court system was using analog workarounds which slowed things down significantlyppâWith our court cases theres been just a major disruptionâ Judge Ortega said âbecause we work very closely with the Sheriffs department and with the Adult Detention Center And so things that we would normally do online we do in person including arraignments from the jailâppFurthermore Judge Ortega said The Sheriffs Department either doesnt have any computers or they might have one computer that theyre working with and so the paperwork with them is slower and the processes with them is slowâ because some documents were being written by handppThe real estate industry continues to be hard hit as well No new mortgages have been recorded in the county since the outage beganppRed River resident Mark Stewart said heâs in the middle of selling his place in Red River and buying a home in Questa â but both transactions are frozenppHe was frustrated because there has been so little publicly available information during the fourweek ordealppâI just cant understand why theres nothing but radio silence coming out of Taos County when so much personal data is at riskâ Stewart saidppâIâd appreciate if you print that what Taos County is doing is totally unacceptable I mean we pay their salaries We should be able to get answers to questions but their phones are down They dont answer emails They dont answer reportersâppStewart said some in the real estate industry have lost income during the outageppâI know a few realtors from church and you know the realtor thats got the listing of the house weâre buying in Questa she hadnt been able to complete a transaction for over a month he said Among other things theres plenty of people that are not able to make any money right now because they cant do their job because Taos County you know their servers are closedâppâIf the stories are true that all of this data was copied he added Am I going to get a call from my credit card company three months from now saying âHey theres a 9000 charge in Russia on your accountââppâI guarantee you if when my property tax comes due I called the Taos County tax assessor up and said âHey man Im sorry but somebody broke in and stole all my postage stamps I cant get a check to you in the mailâ â Im pretty sure they may want a few more answers besides thatppYour comment has been submittedppppReportedppThere was a problem reporting thisppppIt is funny that Taos County Manager Brent Jaramillo said in this report We have made significant progress in restoring affected systems and to date county core systems and functions are fully operational and open to serve county residentsâppYet there is still no access to Clerkâs Office Land Record Lookups and in fact they are still not even answering their phones Iâm curious just what he considers core systems and functions and how they are serving county residents when they canât even answer their phonesppppItâs concerning to hear this described as a âsophisticated cyberattackâ especially when thereâs been total silence about it until now Iâve personally been trying to pay my property taxes and havenât been able toâno explanation no updates just a broken system And when it does come back online how are we supposed to trust that our payments and personal information are secureppAlso was CivicPlusâthe vendor that runs the countyâs websiteâaffected or involved in any way If so the public deserves to know what role they played and whether their systems were part of the breachppA little more transparency would go a long wayppppIn this day and age why would Taos countys would be so open to any cyber attack especially when you are trusted with personal information of county residents court and police data It is beyond me that this continues to act react as if this is still the age of analog I certainly expect a clear and concise report sooner then later detailing the exposure to each concerned person party and departmentspp
Log In
ppAll comment authors MUST use their real names Posts that
cannot be ascribed to a real person
will not be moderated
Keep it Clean Please avoid obscene vulgar lewd
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK
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person will not be tolerated
Be Truthful Dont knowingly lie about anyone
or anything
Be Nice No racism sexism or any sort of ism
that is degrading to another person
Be Proactive Use the Report link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts
Share with Us Wed love to hear eyewitness
accounts the history behind an article
ppThe following is a condensed list of reports made to Taos Central Dispatch within the Town of Taos from Oct 1 Oct 5 2025 Oct 1 942 amppYour browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risksWe recommend switching to one of the following browsersppSorry an error occurredppppAlready SubscribedppppppCancel anytimeppAccount processing issue the email address may already existppppThank you ppYour account has been registered and you are now logged inppCheck your email for detailsppInvalid password or account does not existppSubmitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your passwordppAn email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your accountppNo promotional rates foundpppppp
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