(TNS) — The Select Board is weighing the ramifications of a potential cybersecurity breach, following incidents in other Massachusetts communities.
Vice Chair Catherine Bilotta initiated the consideration, telling board members at their Sept. 21 meeting that while no cyber breaches have beset the town, Manchester needs to be prepared for an attack.
“There have been a number of technology outages in a couple of Massachusetts cities and towns, which have resulted in significant disruption to municipal services,” Bilotta said, pointing to disruptions in Springfield and Everett.
Earlier this month, Springfield Public Schools suffered a severe “Level 4” cyber attack that forced 23,000 students to miss four days of classes and compromised sensitive student and staff data. It also disabled access to the school district’s computer networks, e-mail systems and student health records.
On Sept. 6, the city of Everett discovered a cybersecurity incident that affected the city’s internal network and technology systems. This incident led to municipal offices being closed the following day.
“I think they were hacks; cyber incidents,” Bilotta said. “Those cities and towns were not prepared with the proper emergency preparedness backup procedures and it made me wonder, what is our level of preparedness?”
Bilotta requested Town Administrator Tony Barletta or Finance Director and Town Accountant Andrea Mainville to eventually brief Select Board on Manchester’s level of emergency preparedness for possible technology outages.
Bilotta suggested a formal briefing may need to take place in executive session.
“There can be some sensitive things there,” she said. “That should be just part of our board’s responsibilities to make sure we’re prepared.”
Barletta said Manchester is part of a group of area jurisdictions that work to prevent cyber incursions into municipal services.
“Through the Danvers Collaborative, we have a ton of cyber security trainings and also a bunch of infrastructure installed to help prevent those types of things,” Barletta said.
For her part, Bilotta said the effort should consider the ramifications of a cyber attack.
“It’s in the event that somebody gets through and we have a disruption,” she said. “What are our backup procedures? (It’s) just like you do emergency preparedness for a weather event. There should be emergency preparedness for cyber events.”
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