Deinze, a city in Belgium, faced a cyber attack targeting its municipal services on April 24. The attack involved unauthorized access to a city employee’s mailbox, through which hackers sent fraudulent emails to approximately 300 addresses. The emails prompted recipients to open a file via a link, posing a potential threat to their security. Fortunately, the breach was quickly detected by the city’s IT department and reported by municipal councilor Bart Vermaercke, leading to immediate action to mitigate the attack.
Alderman Sofie D’hondt reassured the public that despite the breach, there was no unauthorized access to the city’s underlying systems, including servers and databases containing sensitive data. She credited the swift response of the IT team in blocking the compromised account and halting the dissemination of false messages within an hour of detection. Mayor Jan Vermeulen emphasized the city’s existing cybersecurity measures, such as anti-spam filters, anti-virus software, and multi-factor authentication for employees, while acknowledging the incident as a result of human error.
The cyber attack serves as a reminder of the persistent threats faced by organizations, even with robust security measures in place. It underscores the importance of vigilance, rapid response, and continuous evaluation of cybersecurity protocols to safeguard against evolving threats in an increasingly digital environment.
