file photoA computer virus last week caused a shutdown of Lauderdale County’s computer network, but officials say no one’s personal information was compromised. 

A computer virus last week caused a shutdown of Lauderdale County’s computer network, but officials say no one’s personal information was compromised.

Lauderdale County Administrator Chris Lafferty said Tuesday that the system, which has been down since May 22, should be restored and back online within the next few days.

The virus resulted in a temporary loss of information, but no county services were affected, Lafferty said. 

“We’ve recovered most of the information,” Lafferty said. “It’s just the cost of doing business in the 21st century.”

While no definite cause has been determined, Lafferty said the virus could have come from an online video from YouTube or Facebook.

Calls to the county’s IT department were not returned on Tuesday afternoon.

“When it all shakes out, we’ll be looking at the way our servers allow access to the world,” Lafferty said.

East Mississippi Community College Local Area Networking instructor Brandon Sesser said these types of infections are not unusual.

Two ways to avoid infection are keeping software up to date and disabling tracking cookies on your browser, he said.

“Be careful what you click on,” Sesser said. “Just because you received an email from your boss doesn’t mean it’s coming from your boss… Don’t open an attachment from anybody that you know is not sending you an attachment, especially if it’s an executable file.”