Beaver County commissioners paid a reported $175,000 ransom after hackers encrypted county behavioral health records and blocked employees’ access to patient files.
In an Aug. 4 report, BeaverCountian said a foreign hacker group took control of systems used for behavioral health and developmental services. The outlet said the attackers stole and encrypted sensitive information, then threatened to publish medical records unless the county paid.
County Solicitor Garen Fedeles publicly confirmed the outlet’s original account during an Aug. 5 work session, BeaverCountian reported Aug. 6. The county has not published its own account of the incident.
The outlet said commissioners used opioid-settlement proceeds to purchase the cryptocurrency used for the ransom. An Aug. 9 follow-up placed the payment in August but did not establish the exact date or identify the cryptocurrency.
Beaver County’s behavioral health department oversees mental health, intellectual disability, early intervention and drug-and-alcohol services. Public reporting has not established that appointments, crisis services, eligibility decisions or other resident-facing services were interrupted.
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The county has not disclosed how or when attackers entered its systems, whether it received a working decryptor, what types of information were stolen or how many people were affected. DysruptionHub found no public claim from a named ransomware group.
The incident follows other cyber disruptions at Pennsylvania local governments. Delaware County shut down network access after intrusion attempts disrupted county systems in June, while York’s insurer paid a $500,000 settlement after a 2025 ransomware attack disabled municipal email and parking kiosks.
Beaver County has not said when employees regained access to patient files or confirmed that the affected systems and records were fully restored.
