Orange County is encouraging employees to change the passwords to their personal accounts as the county is dealing with fallout from last week’s hack.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the county advised its employees to change passwords to personal financial accounts if they accessed those accounts through the county network within the past six months,” officials said in a release Friday.
“The county has received no reports of unauthorized access to any employee’s personal accounts but is urging employees to change passwords to ensure their accounts are protected.”
The county shut down the computer network last Monday after a virus was discovered. It impacted services for several days as operations were slowly brought back online.
“This incident is continuing to be investigated by federal law enforcement authorities and cyber-security professionals. At this time the county has no evidence indicating and no reason to believe computers and systems at county facilities that are accessible by the public were compromised.”
Related Stories
‹
![]()
Some Orange County Operations Normalizing After Computer VirusSome Orange County operations are back online Wednesday afternoon after two days of IT officials working to determine the damage from a virus on the county computer network. Officials said in an update that the county “has not detected any evidence that data has been lost or stolen in the cyber attack.” State and federal […]

As NC Monkeypox Cases Rise, Mayor Seils Urges Those Eligible to Get VaccinatedMayor Damon Seils and a UNC student both received their monkeypox vaccine and are encouraging others to do the same.
![]()
Orange County Working to Get Computer System OperationalOrange County is working to mitigate the impact of a computer virus that forced the shutdown of the entire network on Monday. Officials said early detection and rapid response from the county Information Technology Department helped to alleviate some concerns. “The damage was not as severe as originally anticipated.” The county is working with “network […]
![]()
Orange County Computers Hit with VirusOrange County provided residents with an update Tuesday afternoon.**** Orange County computers were shut down for most of Monday after being hit by an encryption virus. County officials detected the virus on the countywide network, leading them to shut down all internal servers, according to a release Monday evening. “The county IT department is […]

How OWASA's Reclaimed Water System Extends the Lifespan of Local Water SourcesBuilt 17 years ago to improve the community’s drinking water resilience, it has saved the county billions of gallons of drinking water.
![]()
Orange County: Welcoming Rani Dasi and Honoring Jamezetta Bedford (Aug. 26, 2026)Chair of the Orange County Commissioners Jean Hamilton speaks with 97.9 The Hill's Andrew Stuckey on Wednesday, August 26.

Rani Dasi Sworn in as New District 1 Orange County CommissionerDasi was one of six people who threw her hat in the ring for the District 1 position, and was ultimately selected by the board to serve out the rest of Bedford’s term.

Orange County Sheriff: Student Assaults Staff Members at Partnership AcademyA School Resource Officer from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office detained a student at Hillsborough’s Partnership Academy Tuesday after the student allegedly assaulted two staff members, per a release. The sheriff’s office says the SRO will now coordinate with the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention regarding legal consequences. After the assault, […]

Orange County Sheriff's Office Locates Missing 19-Year-Old in RougemontThe Orange County Sheriff's Office sent out a missing persons alert Monday for Bryce Howerton of Rougemont, a high-functioning autistic man.
![]()
Dale Edwards on The News of Orange County's Top Summer Stories – On Air Today (August 19, 2026)Dale Edwards, the managing editor for the News of Orange County, speaks with 97.9 The Hill's Brighton McConnell on Wednesday, August 19.
›