MONTICELLO, NY — Sullivan County Sheriff Mike Schiff is warning computer users to be vigilant, since “bad actors” posing as technicians for CrowdStrike or other cyber security companies have been trying to compromise business and residential computer systems.

“We have a report of such an impostor showing up at a local institution and trying to download malware into their system,” Schiff said. “If anyone shows up unsolicited to fix your computer, don’t let them in. If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from a cyber security company, hang up immediately. And if you see a pop-up message on your computer screen that says your computer is infected with a virus, do not call the telephone number you see. You will most certainly be connected to a computer hacker overseas.”

Anyone who encounters one of these impostors in person should get a detailed description, including a license plate number. They should also take video or a photo if possible.

A global strike

The Microsoft and Crowdstrike outages struck home on Friday, July 19, exposing the vulnerability of the global technology network in their shutdown of government, banks, pharmacies, airlines and media here and around the planet.

The Sullivan County government is unable to conduct transactions in two of its departments. In a Facebook post just before 10 a.m. Friday, county clerk Russell Reeves said his office and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) are “currently down.”

Local banks have been affected as well.

Jeff Bank posted the following on its website Friday morning: “Please be aware that we are currently experiencing interruptions in our Online Banking and Mobile Banking services. We are working to get them back up and running as quickly as possible. If you need immediate assistance, please contact your local branch or visit any one of our conveniently located ATMs. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

That message was still offered to online banking customers on Saturday afternoon.

Wayne Bank is similarly afflicted: “Our Online and Mobile Banking services are experiencing technical issues today, as a result of the major tech outage affecting airlines, banks, health services and other businesses globally. Teams are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible and we appreciate your patience.” On Saturday afternoon, the online banking page remained inoperable.

And this, posted by Dime Bank, which has branches in Honesdale, Hawley and Damascus: “We are currently experiencing interruption in the Remote Deposit Capture Service. Users may be unable to access the application at this time. We are working to restore the service as soon as possible. Email notification will be sent when the service is restored. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.”

All three banks had their online banking operational by Monday morning.

The Associated Press is reporting that the outage was caused by a faulty software update, and has affected banks, airlines, and media around the world.

In a post on X, Microsoft said it was “working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated. Check back for further updates.