Tag Archive for: town

Town of Didsbury victimized by ransomware attack

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The Town of Didsbury says it became the victim of a cyber attack one week ago.  

According to a Media Release posted Friday (March 26) on the town’s website, fraudsters encrypted Didsbury’s information systems with ransomware and made a ransom demand to decrypt the system on Sunday, March 21st.

Didsbury’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ethan Gormer says fire services for the town, along with water and waste management were not impacted by the attack as they are isolated for security purposes.  So far there is no indication that any personal information was accessed by the hackers.  

Gormer says the Town of Didsbury is working diligently to identify whether any information was removed from its system or inappropriately accessed.  

“The security of our systems and the information of our residents and businesses is a very high priority for us and we will be implementing additional security measures to safeguard our network,” Gorner says.

Didsbury Mayor Rhonda Hunter didn’t say if the ransom that was demanded by the hackers had been paid but she made the following statement in the Media Release.  

“We want to assure our residents and businesses that we are taking this malicious and illegal breach extremely seriously.  We are working closely with and under the direction of cybersecurity experts that specialize in these types of attacks to restore the integrity of our systems.

We have reported the incident to law enforcement and to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta. We thank our residents and businesses for their patience and continued support during this situation, and I want to thank our administrative team for working around the clock with security experts to restore and secure systems.”

The Town of Didsbury will provide updates on the matter as material information becomes available.

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Rotterdam police probe apparent hacking of town computer system

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Photo of Paul Nelson

Emblem on a Rotterdam police car in Rotterdam Wednesday Feb. 20, 2013. Police say someone hacked the town's email system in January 2021. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Emblem on a Rotterdam police car in Rotterdam Wednesday Feb. 20, 2013. Police say someone hacked the town’s email system in January 2021. (John Carl D’Annibale / Times Union)

John Carl D’Annibale

ROTTERDAM – Police and and employees of the town IT department are investigating how hackers were able to gain access to the work email of a town employee and then send out requests to town residents asking them for personal information, according to Lt. William Male, a police department spokesman.

He said that as of Tuesday morning, the police had not received any reports that any one who got the fraudulent emails had fallen victim to the attempted scam.

After initially saying that a number of town employees may have had their work emails compromised, police Tuesday afternoon clarified that it was actually only one.

Police said the data breach occurred at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, reminding Rotterdam residents that the town would never ask them for their driver’s license or social security in an email.

Anyone who received an email seeking that sensitive information is being asked to call Rotterdam Police at (518) 630-0911.

Paul Nelson covers cops and courts in Schenectady County as well as the suburban towns of Niskayuna and Rotterdam. Contact him at [email protected] or (518) 454-5347.

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Payroll system compromised in ransomware attack on Town of Ludlow

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LUDLOW, Mass. (WWLP) – Documents relating to the payroll system of employees at Ludlow Town Hall were illegally accessed in a cyberattack attack on Wednesday, according to officials. 

In an email to 22News Thursday evening, Ludlow officials said the town was a victim of a ransomware attack that “impacted many of the town’s IT infrastructure systems, including its payroll system.” 

Legal counsel was immediately sought and a leading incident response team were able to assess, contain and restore the damage caused by the attack.  

The town, with the help of the incident response team, has successfully contained the attack and is restoring the operational status of all systems. The payroll system was prioritized by the town and is now fully operational.

The Town of Ludlow

The town added the team is also conducting a forensic investigation to determine whether any data was compromised during the cyber-attack.  

Individuals whose information may have been compromised in the ransomware attack will be immediately notified by the town, officials said. 

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Racist trolls hijacked a Zoom town hall to hurl slurs at Connecticut’s first Black congresswoman – Washington Post

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Racist trolls hijacked a Zoom town hall to hurl slurs at Connecticut’s first Black congresswoman  Washington Post
“HTTPS hijacking” – read more