Email reset shuts down parts of Nevada’s government after cyberattack

State employees found themselves unexpectedly locked out of their email accounts for a few hours Tuesday, multiple employees told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The governor’s technology office sent a mass password reset to state emails across the state around noon, but employees have had difficulty resetting their accounts, effectively shutting down at least some operations, according to multiple sources with knowledge of state government offices.

The reset came two weeks after a massive cyberattack against the state was discovered, and state officials have been working to recover services.

In a statement, the governor’s office said Tuesday afternoon that the reset was a scheduled part of the restoration process and that all employees will be able to access their emails after the reset.

“All employees will regain access after resetting their passwords,” said Elizabeth Ray, spokesperson for the governor’s office, in a statement. “The reset prompt was administered with considerations of operational security in mind.”

One source said the reset came without warning, and there was no communication with staffers, according to one senior state employee, who did not regain access to their email until about 3:20 p.m., about four hours after they were initially locked out.

Another state employee said they were able to regain access after more than two hours of being locked out. Some employees continue to be locked out because they tried to reset their password too many times.

A spokesperson for the state employee union AFSCME Local 4041 confirmed late Tuesday afternoon that state workers were still locked out of their emails and hoped to regain access Wednesday.

Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, heard about the password reset Tuesday afternoon and called it a “disaster.”

“No one told any of us this was happening,” Yeager told the Review-Journal. “It’s obviously concerning that we have state employees who functionally can’t work.”

Yeager announced Tuesday the formation of a legislative cybersecurity working group that will provide recommendations to the Legislative Commission with possible solutions that can be addressed in the next special or regular session of the Legislature.

He said he had thought of the idea over the last couple of weeks, but after he learned that law enforcement did not have access to a sex offender registry, it prompted him to do something “sooner than later.”

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.