By Liam Verster

cyber-attack

City of Dawson Creek a victim of a cyber-attack

Jan 10, 2020 | 1:32 PM

The City of Dawson Creek has discovered that it’s the victim of a cyber-attack.

In the early hours of Thursday, January 9, the City’s network was illegally accessed and infected with ransomware. The attack encrypted and locked a number of City systems, disabling access to files and data.

Dawson Creek’s Mayor, Dale Bumstead, says they haven’t been contacted by whoever infected the City, asking for a ransom to unlock the system. He adds that, fortunately, the City has cyber-insurance to help deal with this situation.

“So whenever we’re in this situation, we turn it over to the insurers and the experts who have the expertise to be able to deal with, hopefully, the perpetrators, and/or the communications around that in terms of what we need to do in terms of our next steps in recovering access to our system. So that’s what they’re dealing with right now.”

He adds that he doesn’t believe any crucial information has been accessed through this cyber-attack.

“These guys, what they do is, basically, they just lock you out of [the system], so at this point we know whether, we don’t think they’ve accessed any of the systems. They just basically locked us out of it, and that’s what we’re working our way through. We don’t believe any of our data or information has been accessed inappropriately or anything like that, we’re just locked out.”

The cyber-attack has locked up the City’s system, but vital services, including fire, waste management, and water management were not impacted. Those systems are isolated for security reasons.

Though those vital services were not affected, Bumstead says it’s still crucial that a solution is found.

“Everything that we do at home or at work, and certainly for a city, is tied up in those systems with our files, and finance, and HR, and payroll, and all of those things. So it’s a big, big deal for any community, any organization, any business that has to deal with. And we’re working our way though it right now, we’re in the middle of it.”

City staff and IT experts are currently working to regain access to recover access or rebuild the system and files. Bumstead says he expects the work will last through the weekend.

The City plans on providing an update on the cyber-attack on the afternoon of Monday, January 13.