LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Gov. Joe Lombardo said Friday 90% of Nevada's websites used by the public are up and running, three weeks after a cyberattack crippled state systems and left services from the DMV to gun background checks offline.
"And the remaining few services that are not back online will continue to be prioritized for restoration in order of public safety and constituent impact," said Lombardo, speaking at his third news conference since the attack was detected Aug. 24.
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"From the very beginning, I've been clear: Our top priority is restoring services that Nevadans depend on every day," Lombardo said. "That has not changed. This time of recovery is never easy. It requires patience, precision and constant vigilance, but I want Nevadans to know we are making real headway, and every day brings us closer to full restoration."
As part of the restoration, state employees were suddenly prompted to change their passwords, an unannounced security measure designed to defeat intruders using existing credentials.
In the wake of that password reset, Lombardo said, the state detected attempts to copy valid credentials in real time, but they were defeated, he said.
In the three days after Lombardo's first news conference on the subject, held Aug. 28, he said the state successfully blocked 150 million hits to its firewalls; normally, that number is 150,000, he said.
The state's Department of Motor Vehicles is 100% back online, the governor said, although the state's system that processes firearms background checks is still down. That means only people with concealed weapons permits — whose information is already on file — can purchase weapons.
But Lombardo said the system could be restored as soon as this weekend. Until that happens, however, gun sales are at a standstill.
"It means we wouldn't be able to determine their criminal history, or their ability to purchase a gun or own a gun through the federal guidelines," Lombardo said. "So until that does happen, proper sale of a firearm cannot occur."
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Lombardo assured reporters during the news conference that, so far, the state has not seen any evidence that personal information was stolen from state systems. If that changes, he said, the state will notify victims of the theft.
"Nevadans should know this. While we're not yet at the finish line, we are moving there faster than expected," Lombardo said. "We will to be transparent about what we can responsibly share. When operational details could enable copycats or interfere with a federal investigation, we will hold that information back until it's safe to release that."
Lombardo said he couldn't share information about who was behind the attack, as authorities are still investigating.
Asked about an email outage that left some state employees locked out of the system, Lombardo said the state would inevitably encounter some problems as it gets back online.
"We have 25,000 employees, right? There isn't an agency in the world that can transfer the entire agency's email system seamlessly," he said.
Pointing to a Channel 13 reporter scribbling notes into a reporter's notebook, Lombardo said it's still possible to work without using electronics.