Police Investigate Intrusion of Arlington County Payroll System

Published on July 10, 2019

ARLINGTON, Va. — Arlington County Government recently discovered the existence of an intrusion into the Arlington County payroll system. This intrusion was limited in both the time of the compromise and the number of the employees who were impacted. No resident data was compromised during the intrusion.

All of the impacted employees have been identified, advised of the situation and steps are being taken to ensure the security of their personal data. Based on a joint review by the Arlington County Department of Technology Services and the Arlington County Police Department, the consensus belief is that the intrusion was likely the result of individual employees being targeted through a phishing email.

Since discovery of the intrusion, Arlington County has implemented enhanced cyber security features to safeguard email and other critical computing systems. As part of our education and crime prevention efforts, Arlington County is sharing cyber safety tips and reminding employees and the public not to open any emails from individuals they are unfamiliar with and to not click on links contained with any emails without first verifying their content.

The intrusion is currently being investigated by the Arlington County Police Department. Any information related to this ongoing investigation can be provided to Detective John Bamford of the Department's Homeland Security Section at POLHSS@arlingtonva.us. Information may also be provided anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 866.411.TIPS (8477).