City gives updates on Oct. 10 cyberattack
The sun sets on City Hall in this 2019 file photo from downtown Mount Pleasant.
Since the Oct. 10 Ransomware attack, Mount Pleasant's Information Technology staff has been able to restore the majority of systems affected.
The remote cyber-attack locked city officials out of their computer and phone systems, leaving them unable to access email, update the city website or return calls.
“Our IT staff was able to restore most of our systems from the offsite backups that we had in place. We’re not 100 percent up and running yet,” said City Manager Nancy Ridley. “There’s still a number of additional things that still need to be restored more like individual customization of phone systems, email setups and computer setups.”
At this time, staff members will not be allowed to access the city’s computer system remotely.
The City of Mount Pleasant received a remote Ransomware attack that affected its computer and phone systems on Oct. 10.
Since this cyberattack, the city’s IT staff has been able to restore the majority of the systems affected.
Ridley does not believe any personal information has been breached, according to an Oct. 12 press release. Ridley assures residents there was also no access to state election computers and all ballot and voter information is secure.
The individual, or group, that committed the attack has not been identified. The Michigan State Police is conducting an independent investigation of the cyberattack
“We’re still evaluating additional things we might want to do as we move forward,” Ridley said. “We used to have the ability to allow our staff to hook up to our computer system when they were outside of our building. We are not allowing that at this point in time just to be safe for now.”
Ridley said she and the city “continue to be optimistic" that they have done everything possible so a cyberattack will not happen again.
