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Wasaga Distribution says it was victim to cyber attack
From: Destry Winant <destry () riskbasedsecurity com>
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2020 09:23:55 -0500
https://www.simcoe.com/news-story/10143680-wasaga-distribution-says-it-was-victim-to-cyber-attack/ Wasaga Beach’s local electricity distribution company says it was a victim to computer hacking. However, says a news release from the Wasaga Distribution Inc. chief executive officer Keith McAllister, computer systems containing personal data were not affected by a data breach that took place Aug. 17, and the information remains intact. Customer access to account information through WDI’s customer-connect portal was also not affected, and the system continued to be available to customers. In an interview, McAllister acknowledged the attack is similar to the ransomware demand experienced by the Town of Wasaga Beach in 2018, in that the attackers have asked for money in exchange for a decryption key. The utility is currently working with police. “In terms of the electrical system itself, there is no issue with that at all,” he said. “Our customer base is secure, and we don’t believe they had any access to that.” According to the release, the cyber security breach resulted in restricted access to some of the company’s systems. According to the release, a forensic evaluation and recovery plan was implemented. “While it will take a bit of time for all computer-based systems to be restored from the back-up systems, the normal operation of the electrical system was not affected,” the release stated. “We apologize for any delays our customers may have experienced over the last couple of days when they called into our office for inquiries,” the release stated. “We are taking all necessary steps to help prevent similar occurrences in the future.” The Town of Wasaga Beach’s computer systems were hacked and held ‘hostage’ several weeks in 2018, after cyber criminals gained access and demanded a ransom to release a decryption key. The town ultimately paid a ransom of around $34,000, though the ultimate cost in lost productivity, new servers, consulting fees, and new security software was close to $250,000. McAllister said the utility has a number of systems that reside in local servers, and in the cloud; systems that reside in the cloud were not affected, such as the customer service system that contains information about customers and their electricity use. “Our systems are fully backed up and those systems (in the cloud) were not encrypted (by the hackers),” he said.“We are still in the process of evaluating the full effect of the security breach and our ability to recover. Some of our main systems are up and running such as our customer service interface. “I believe we’re in pretty good shape. We have our teams working on it, and I’m pleased with our people who have taken care of the systems the way they are, and pleased with the external help we’ve brought in to help us recover.” _______________________________________________ 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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- Wasaga Distribution says it was victim to cyber attack Destry Winant (Aug 24)