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Phones up, email still down at city hall in wake of cyber-attack
From: Destry Winant <destry () riskbasedsecurity com>
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2019 09:13:38 -0500
https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/phones-up-email-still-down-at-city-hall-in-wake-of-cyber-attack/wcm/68bcc44e-b609-41db-900a-b5c90d9e3a8e Phone lines were back up and running Tuesday at Stratford City Hall but email and certain functions on the city’s website remained down in the wake of a confirmed cyber-attack. Voicemail systems were still being reprogrammed, but they were expected to be fixed soon. “By the end of today, all phone lines will be back up and functioning,” Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson said Tuesday afternoon. However, email and online forms on the city’s website were still down and “will be until further notice as they work through everything,” Mathieson said. City staff said IT experts confirmed they were the target of a ransomware attack, but they found no evidence of a data theft or transfer. As for any financial demand and the attack itself, Mathieson said “at this time, we have no further comment on it as the IT experts and police work on our behalf.” Stratford police offered a similar update Tuesday. “(We) are working alongside external forensic IT experts, legal counsel including specialists in protection of privacy and City of Stratford IT personnel. All appropriate investigative measures are being employed to adequately investigate this criminal activity,” police Chief Greg Skinner wrote in an email to the Beacon Herald. Skinner added the OPP has assigned specially trained investigators with technical and analytical expertise to support the investigation. After first acknowledging the attack through social media Sunday night and offering a brief update early Monday, city staff sent out answers to five commonly asked questions later that evening to help ease concerns of residents. “We felt they were helpful in providing answers as best as possible at this time,” Mathieson said. The city said despite a virus preventing staff from accessing data, critical operations such as transit, water and wastewater treatment and emergency services were still functional. _______________________________________________ BreachExchange mailing list sponsored by Risk Based Security BreachExchange () lists riskbasedsecurity com If you wish to Edit your membership or Unsubscribe you can do so at the following link: https://lists.riskbasedsecurity.com/listinfo/breachexchange
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- Phones up, email still down at city hall in wake of cyber-attack Destry Winant (Apr 18)