The City of Cold Lake, Alberta, is grappling with the aftermath of a severe cyberattack that has disrupted operations across its municipal services. The breach, which was discovered on July 29, 2024, has significantly impacted several key city facilities, including City Hall, the Energy Centre, Family and Community Support Services (FCSS), the Cold Lake Golf & Winter Club, and other public locations such as the marina and the transfer station. The attack has led to widespread outages affecting phone systems, payment processes, and email communications, creating substantial operational challenges for the city.
In response to the attack, city officials have made some progress in restoring services. While phone systems remain down, several payment systems have been successfully reactivated. Residents can now use credit and debit cards at the Energy Centre, FCSS, and the Cold Lake Golf & Winter Club. To facilitate payments during this period, the City is advising residents to bring either electronic or paper copies of their bills, ensuring that account numbers are readily accessible to process transactions efficiently. This temporary measure helps mitigate the inconvenience caused by the ongoing disruption.
According to CAO Kevin Nagoya, there is currently no evidence to suggest that personal or sensitive information has been compromised, as this data is stored on separate, unaffected servers. The City’s IT department has isolated the compromised servers and is working to establish temporary terminals at various facilities to ensure that essential business operations continue. Despite these efforts, Nagoya has cautioned that it may take several days to fully restore all systems, and some IT infrastructure may need to be replaced entirely. The city’s focus remains on stabilizing operations and minimizing the impact on residents and services.
The attack has been traced to an IP address in Russia; however, due to the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), this may not accurately represent the true origin of the attack. The City of Cold Lake is continuing to investigate the incident and provide updates as recovery efforts progress. Facilities are open for in-person assistance, and the city is working diligently to restore phone lines and other affected systems. Residents are advised to stay informed through official channels for the latest updates and guidance during this challenging period.
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