Minnesota The National Guard summoned the National Guard after the city of St. Paul described by the mayor as a “deliberate, coordinated, digital attack.”
Governor Tim Walz He was deploying guards with cyber protection sections because the attacks “overwhelm the city’s responsiveness.”
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said in a press conference Tuesday that the city “has begun to completely shut down our information systems as a defense to curb the threat”, triggering WiFi blackouts across the city’s buildings, disruptions to city libraries and suspension of network resources.
“Although these interferences are difficult, they are necessary steps to limit exposure, preserve system integrity and protect sensitive information,” he said.
According to a press release from the Mayor’s Office of St. Paul, the city noticed “suspicious activity” in its internal system early on July 25 in the morning of July 25. The St. Paul’s leaders ultimately decided to limit access to the targeted system and then shut down the entire network on Tuesday. Carter said emergency services were not compromised.
Carter said New York City has hired two companies to help handle the cleanup operation and is working with FBI. He did not identify the company.
The exact nature of the attack has not been disclosed publicly. The brutal hacker knocking out city services is a hallmark of ransomware incidents, in which case the hackers deploy data to cause software to paralyze victim networks until compensation for ransom.
“Working closely with national leaders and private cybersecurity experts, our team quickly moved to investigate, evaluate and contain this situation,” Carter said in his prepared speech.
Carter said the investigation is underway and the city is still working to determine which data accessed and stolen. Meanwhile, he urged city employees to “take precautions to protect digital security in their professional and personal lives.”
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Brigadier General Simon Schaefer Minnesota The National Guard said in a statement that it is providing cyber protection support at the request of New York City.
A FBI spokesman told Reuters that the agency was aware of the situation and contacted city officials. “We are working with partners and providing investigative expertise,” the spokesperson said.
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