The city of Stevens Point says most of its systems are back online after a cybersecurity incident that began last Wednesday. The city’s IT department was alerted that multiple servers were offline. Upon further investigation, officials realized the servers were online but not communicating, which prompted them to take action to secure those servers. “We locked down everything that we thought might have been suspicious,” Mayor Mike Wiza said.
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WAOW) — The city of Stevens Point says most of its systems are back online after a cybersecurity incident that began last Wednesday.
The city’s IT department was alerted that multiple servers were offline.
Upon further investigation, officials realized the servers were online but not communicating, which prompted them to take action to secure those servers.
“We locked down everything that we thought might have been suspicious,” Mayor Mike Wiza said.
By Friday, 23 devices had been quarantined because of what was then “potential anomalies”.
Officials activated an emergency operation center to coordinate the response, still uncertain if the incident was an attack.
Then a cybersecurity company was brought in to scan the city’s devices.
Officials determined three servers were accessed without authorization, and the incident appears to be a failed ransomware attempt.
“We determined that in the end, three servers were accessed and it does appear that they were unauthorized access,” Wiza said. “Speculation right now is that it was a failed ransomware attempt.”
Officials say there’s no evidence any information was stolen or manipulated.
Wiza said there’s no indication personal data, ACH account numbers or other sensitive information was taken.
Wiza credited the IT department for working around the clock to secure the system and restore operations.
The city also received help from UW-Stevens Point, Wisconsin Emergency Management, federal agencies and cybersecurity experts.
“They have been working nonstop since Wednesday trying to figure this out,” Wiza said. “Taking shifts of sleep so they can remain functional.”
The city has added extra security measures to prevent similar incidents — with more than 85% of machines now back online.
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