Ransomware attack forces Wisconsin's City of Sheboygan to take its network offline

The city of Sheboygan in the U.S. state of Wisconsin said it suffered unauthorised access to its internal network that forced it to take several systems offline.

 

The City, which serves approximately 50,000 people in the Sheboygan metropolitan area located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, said in a data security incident notice posted on its website that it experienced a cyber security incident in late October that forced it to isolate its internal network.

 

The City learned about the incident after its IT team detected “potential issue with our network.” City officials immediately launched an investigation with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident.

 

“In an abundance of caution, we have isolated our network. We are currently assessing the situation, prioritising solutions, and working diligently with technical teams to restore full functionality as quickly and smoothly as possible,” reads the notice.

 

City officials added that phone lines remained open and residents can call the main city line for assistance.

In a recent update, the City said that its investigation into the cyber security incident identified “unauthorised access to our network by an external party.”

 

“Our investigation remains ongoing and at this time we have not discovered evidence that any sensitive personal information has been compromised by this incident.

 

“Should we discover an impact to any sensitive personal information, we will notify those individuals as soon as possible and provide them with information and resources to assist,” it said.

 

The City added that it has received a ransom demand from the threat actors who infiltrated its network. The incident has been reported to relevant law enforcement authorities and the City is taking their guidance to respond to the hacker’s demand.

 

At the time of publishing, no known ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on the City of Sheboygan. City Officials also did not provide details about the threat group behind the attack or the amount of the ransom demanded.