The Virgin Islands Lottery (VIL) has announced that it will reopen for business at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 29 following weeks of disruptions caused by a cyberattack on its systems. Photo: VIC

The lottery's entire network had been compromised, forcing the temporary suspension of ticket sales and scheduled lottery draws.

According to information obtained by the Consortium, the cyberattack involved hackers demanding a ransom totaling $1 million to restore access to the compromised systems. Raymond Williams, Director of the Virgin Islands Lottery, explicitly refused to meet the ransom demands. Instead, he opted for a more secure and robust solution, initiating a complete rebuilding of VIL's systems from scratch.

In its statement on Saturday, VIL informed the public that lottery draw number 1047 would be conducted on Monday, April 28. Additionally, tickets purchased for draw number 1047, along with winning tickets from previous draws dating back 180 days, will be honored for payment.

VIL expressed gratitude towards its patrons, acknowledging their patience throughout the ordeal: "We deeply appreciate your patience and understanding during these past weeks while we worked to restore all our critical information."

Regarding its employees, the government-owned entity said, "We extend our heartfelt thanks to the dedicated employees of the Virgin Islands Lottery, whose tireless efforts and professionalism have been instrumental throughout this recovery process."