Further to the cybersecurity incident reported by the Town of Huntsville on March 10, 2024, the municipality confirmed today, March 27, that it was ransomware that attacked and impacted its network and systems.
The Town noted that its systems were infiltrated and some data was compromised, but added that it is unclear at this time whether or not the impacted data includes personal information.
“We are working diligently with our experts, and the authorities to determine the nature and extent of the impacted data. This process will involve a thorough review and validation of what data was comprised by our cyber experts,” notes Chief Administrative Officer, Denise Corry. “Cybersecurity incidents require forensic investigation, with multiple teams involved and we anticipate this process to take several weeks to complete.”
The Town says that once the investigation, which includes a thorough review and validation of the impacted data, is complete, if it is determined that personal information was compromised, affected individuals will be directly notified as soon as possible.
“The community can be assured that we are working efficiently and effectively to determine the extent of the breach and will provide updates as soon as we are able,” stated Huntsville Mayor Nancy Alcock. “The Town recognizes that the community will have many questions regarding the details of the attack and, while the investigation continues, there is information that we can share and information that will not be divulged due to security concerns.”
The Town said it is committed to transparency and will keep residents informed as they cooperate with the authorities in this investigation.
How did the ransomware attack happen?
The Town has cybersecurity measures in place and while the municipality says it takes regular action to update and secure its systems, cybercrime continues to advance and is becoming more common. In response to this incident, staff immediately enacted the Town’s incident response protocol and took steps to secure the network against further unauthorized activity. The investigation into how this incident occurred is still underway and remains unknown at this time.
What is an Incident Response Protocol?
The Town’s cybersecurity measures included a strategy to deal with a cyber event if the municipality was faced with that type of incident. It allowed the Town to act quickly, connect immediately with cybersecurity experts and authorities, prevent any further unauthorized activity, and communicate swiftly with the community.
Did the Municipality pay the ransom? If so, how much?
This matter is currently under investigation and for security reasons, it says it cannot provide further details.
How is the Town preventing this from happening again?
Throughout this incident, the Town has reviewed and continued to strengthen its systems to mitigate future risk and increase recovery resilience. Once the investigation is complete, staff will be working alongside cybersecurity experts to build on lessons learned.
When will the Town be fully operational?
The Town of Huntsville says it has been working diligently to restore and recover from this cybersecurity incident. As they strengthen their systems and implement new measures, their will continue to provide updates on their progress at Huntsville.ca.
Is there any impact to Property Tax Payments?
There is no impact to their ability to collect payments and property tax payments are still due by March 28 at 4:30 p.m.
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Sandy McLennan says
Who are these “cybersecurity experts and authorities”?
I wonder what they cost to hire. I bet it’s a good business to be in, now and for a while now.