Metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta

DeKalb’s COVID-19 rent assistance program targeted in cyberattack

Officials ‘currently unaware of any actual compromise or misuse of customers’ information.’
Cobb County commissioners last week approved setting aside $22.8 million in emergency rental assistance grants, which was approved by Congress and signed into law in December. The grants can be used to pay rent, utilities and other expenses related to housing, the county said. Credit: Pixabay

Credit: Pixabay

Credit: Pixabay

Cobb County commissioners last week approved setting aside $22.8 million in emergency rental assistance grants, which was approved by Congress and signed into law in December. The grants can be used to pay rent, utilities and other expenses related to housing, the county said. Credit: Pixabay
By
April 2, 2021

DeKalb’s COVID-19 rental assistance program was targeted during a recent “international cyberattack,” county officials announced late Thursday.

According a press release, the targets of an attempted data breach on March 24 included a server affiliated with the county’s Tenant-Landlord Assistance Coalition program, a $21-million initiative aimed at helping renters and landlord prevent evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emails and applications previously sent to the program at renthelp@dekalbcountyga.gov were included on the server.

Officials said the county disabled that email account and disconnected the targeted server within five minutes of identifying the cyberattack, and that they are “currently unaware of any actual compromise or misuse of customers’ information.”

A criminal investigation is underway, though, and the county is working with law enforcement to “determine what, if any, information may have been accessed.”

About the Author

Before taking over the AJC's Sports Daily newsletter, Tyler Estep spent two years writing the A.M. ATL newsletter. A Gwinnett County native and University of Georgia graduate, he has been with the AJC since 2015 and previously worked as a reporter on the breaking news, hyperlocal and local government teams.

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