Cyberattack slows North Carolina county as it works on fixes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Time-consuming paper transactions slowed business Thursday in North Carolina's largest metro area as a county government began the dayslong process of restoring computer systems locked down by a ransomware attack.

Mecklenburg County was using backed-up data to make digital repairs after refusing to pay foreign hackers that froze dozens of county servers earlier this week. In the meantime, services ranging from processing jail inmates to paying tax bills had to be done by hand.

Darryl Broome, a contractor who does remodeling and demolition work, went in person to a county office to retrieve land information he normally could look up on his home computer.