Canada's City of Hamilton yet to restore online systems following a February ransomware attack

The City of Hamilton in Canada says it is yet to completely restore its systems following a cyber security incident it suffered in late February.

 

In a press release published last month, City authorities said that on February 25, they identified a cyber security incident that affected several of the authority’s internal systems. The City immediately launched an internal investigation, with assistance from third party cyber security experts, to understand the nature and scope of the incident.

 

“At this time, experts are actively responding to the incident to determine the cause and potential impacts. Our priority is to safeguard the integrity of our systems and protect any sensitive or private information,” the City said.

 

“While the investigation is ongoing, we want to assure the community that we are taking this matter seriously and are collaborating closely with cybersecurity experts and relevant authorities to address the issue as quickly and effectively as possible.”

 

While the City said that critical services like water and wastewater treatment, waste collection and transit were operational, almost all their online payment services were affected by the incident. All city council meetings scheduled till March 15 were cancelled and the city libraries’ WiFi, public computers, printing services were not available.

 

In a data security incident notice published on March 7, the City said that on March 4, it determined that the cyber security incident occurred due to a ransomware attack.

 

On Wednesday, the City said that it took swift action to investigate, protect systems and minimise impact on the community.

 

“We engaged a team of experts, insurers, legal counsel, and relevant authorities and are working diligently to restore the City’s system in a safe and secure manner. While a timeline for recovery is not yet known, the City is committed to resolving the situation as quickly and effectively as possible.

 

“Critical services such as curbside waste collection, transit, water and wastewater treatment and emergency services are operational,” reads the press release.

 

The City added that the online payment systems that were completely affected by the ransomware attack are still not operational and the City will notify its residents once it’s up and running. In the meantime, City staff are processing routine transactions manually and accepting cash to complete the transactions.

 

Officials of Hamilton City also assured residents that so far, its investigation found no evidence of any sensitive personal data being compromised. The city is yet to share details on who is behind the cyber attack or how the threat actors infiltrated its systems. Officials have, however, assured residents that they will share more details as and when available.