Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link is giving details about a ransomware attack she says was discovered while she was working with a new IT director.
The 2016 incident happened weeks before the election, while Susan Bucher was Elections Supervisor.
Bucher was suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January 2019, after the previous November election in Palm Beach County was marred by delays and other issues. DeSantis then appointed Link to the position.
Link says she called the State Division of Elections, the FBI and Homeland Security and none of those agencies knew anything about the attack.
She says the system is currently protected and looks forward to another report in a few weeks.
No ransom was ever paid and Link doesn't believe this was one of the two Russian hacking attempts in Florida revealed in the Mueller report.
Bucher told the SunSentinel Wednesday night that there was no ransomware attack in 2016. She accused Link of trying to scare voters.
Link is running to keep her position as Elections Supervisor. She will take part in a Democrat primary in August.
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