Ohio Auditor of State cyberattack takes web server and online accounts offline

Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber said in an October 27, 2026 statement that overseas cybercriminals and possible "foreign state actors" were behind an October 25 attack on his office. The office detected and quarantined the threat, took its web server and online accounts offline, and state and federal law enforcement are investigating. The office website remained offline as of early afternoon on October 27 while a temporary web platform is built.

Faber said the attack was not ransomware and did not specify what kind of attack it was. He said the office lost no data and has no reason to believe the personal financial information of Ohioans, or the financial information of the counties, cities, villages, and school districts it audits, is at risk, because payments run through a separate portal and that data was not on the web server. Audit clients may have issues with online payments, and Faber said the office does not expect Ohioans to need to take protective action. Prepared as a Cybersecurity item, not a Breaches add: no data exposure or affected count has been stated.

Sources: The Columbus Dispatch; DataBreaches.net, carrying Dayton Daily News reporting