Cyberattack Hit Pensacola Hours After Shooting

'We're still trying to figure out what's happened'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 10, 2019 7:42 AM CST
Cyberattack Hit Pensacola Hours After Shooting
Pensacola City Hall is pictured on July 15, 2012.   (Wikimedia/Stepo114)

On the heels of the tragic attack in Pensacola, Fla., came a virtual attack. "The city of Pensacola is experiencing a cyberattack that began this weekend that is impacting our city network, including phones and email at City Hall and some of our other buildings," Mayor Grover Robinson announced at a Monday press conference, per the Pensacola News Journal. Officials learned of the attack early Saturday, less than 24 hours after the deadly shooting at Pensacola Naval Air Station, though the FBI has found no evidence that the events are linked. "We're still trying to figure out what's happened, what's there and what there may be potential for," Robinson said.

While emergency services and 911 are still operating, 311 customer service and online pay systems were impacted. It's unclear if any personal information was exposed. "We have disconnected much of our city network" until the issue can be resolved "to make sure we're not vulnerable to any other cyberattacks,” city spokesperson Kaycee Lagarde tells WEAR. "IT is working diligently on it as quickly as they can to get it restored, but we don't have an estimate at this point." The Journal notes various US cities have suffered the same problem. Florida's Lake City and Riviera Beach paid ransoms of $426,000 and $600,000, respectively, following cyberattacks earlier this year. (In Riviera Beach, 911 calls had to be written down.)

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