Ransomware Attack Impacts Criminal Cases in New York A small number of criminal cases in Albany, N.Y., were affected by a 2019 ransomware attack against the city’s servers, causing the police department to lose digital copies of its 2018 internal affairs files. by Steve Hughes, Times Union / February 8, 2021 Shutterstock (TNS) — The 2019 ransomware attack on the city's servers is now potentially affecting criminal cases after it was revealed that the city police department lost all digital copies of its 2018 internal affairs files. The Albany County District Attorney's office sent letters to several local defense attorneys last month letting them know about loss of the files. District Attorney David Soares wrote that his office didn't learn the files were lost until Jan. 11, 2021, more than 18 months after the attack.