Network Security Incident Disrupts Columbia Online Services
Summary
A network security incident disrupted several Columbia, South Carolina, online services. City technology staff detected suspicious activity; authorities are investigating and restoration is underway. Officials have not said whether personal information was compromised.
Key points
- City technology staff detected suspicious activity on Columbia’s municipal network and notified the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, which is investigating.
- Disrupted services included MyColaSC, business licensing and permitting, and online functions for parks and recreation, planning and development, GIS, and animal services.
- Police, fire, 911 communications, Columbia Water systems, and the City Payment Center remained operational.
- Residents were directed to use telephone channels for service requests and pressing permitting questions while online services were unavailable.
- Restoration was underway, with no timetable given; officials have not said whether personal information was compromised or identified ransomware or an attacker.
Article Details
- Victim Organization
- City of Columbia
- Incident Type
- Network security incident and outage affecting municipal online services; the attack method and responsible party were not identified.
- Operational Impact
- Access to MyColaSC service requests and online business licensing, permitting, parks and recreation, planning and development, geographic information systems, and animal services was disrupted. Police, fire, 911 communications, Columbia Water systems, and online payments remained operational. Restoration was underway with no timetable for restoring all affected applications.
- Ransom Or Extortion
- Officials have not established that ransomware or extortion was involved.
- Claim Status
- confirmed