In an emailed statement on Tuesday, Washington County Commission chairman Nick Sherman said an emergency meeting was held to take further action regarding a cyber-security attack in January on the county’s computer system. Sherman says they approved the retention of Digital Mint of Chicago, Illinois to provide digital security consulting services and to take the steps necessary to restore the County’s computer network and authorize expenditures for incident response, settlement, attorneys fees and to address implement cyber security issues within the County. They also voted to retain Sylint, LLC of Sarasota, Florida to conduct a thorough analysis of the County’s computer network and present a plan to implement a broader modernization of cyber security within the County, that would include the installation of hardware, software, etc., needed to protect and preserve critical information maintained by the county. Any and all expenditures are to be paid from the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) and not from the county’s general fund. Sherman said the funds shall not exceed an amount of $400,000.00, without further approval by the commissioners, The board also voted to authorize the county solicitor to execute any engagement agreements required, with the firms identified, as well as other documentation necessary to address the ransomware attack, Sherman, however, did not address the issue of whether all services had been restored at this time or whether there was any ransom involved in the attack.