Pensacola is responding to an apparent cyberattack. What that means for city residents
Pensacola's officials are responding to an apparent cyberattack against the city's computer system.
The response has forced the shutdown of city networks and phone systems. Here's what we know as of Thursday evening. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
The cause of the cyber attack is under investigation
Exactly what happened is still unclear and officials are not saying much because of security concerns.
The "network security incident," as city officials are calling it, was first announced by city officials Saturday and is still under investigation by authorities including by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Was any data stolen?
At this point, city officials haven't determined if any data was stolen. Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said Tuesday that it's too early in the investigation to know.
"Certainly, we have protocols in place when that becomes apparent, but it is too early to say one way or the other on that," Reeves said. "Obviously, we understand that that's going to be the No. 1 question, and so again, we continue to get updates minute by minute. And certainly, when there's a definitive answer that one way or the other, we'll be providing that as soon as possible."
Pensacola online bill pay is down
Customers looking to pay their sanitation bill or their Pensacola Energy bill cannot access the online bill pay system.
"The network outage has affected Pensacola Energy's online payment capabilities and all payment processing capabilities," the city said in a Tuesday press release. "Pensacola Energy's standard billing practices provide customers with a generous grace period, and penalties will not be assessed during this time."
Disconnects for failure to pay Pensacola Energy bills have also been deferred until all payment capabilities have been restored.
The city said Pensacola Energy customers can still pay their bill with a check by mail or check or cash in person at the city's Customer Service Center located on the west side (i.e. Reus Street side) of City Hall, 222 W. Main St.
Any Sanitaion Services customers that had a bill due on or after March 15 will have late fees waived. Once online bill pay is restored, sanitation customers will have three business days to pay their bill before late fees will be imposed.
Pensacola phone system, emails restored Thursday
Anyone trying to call a non-emergency city office before Thursday were having trouble getting through.
Pensacola announced Thursday that its phone systems and email systems had been fully restored.
City departments are back to using their regular landline phone numbers:
Development Services | 850-435-1670
Housing | 850-858-0350
Pensacola Energy | 850-474-5300
Pensacola Fire Department (non-emergency) | 850-436-5200
Pensacola Police Department (non-emergency) | 850-435-1845
Public Works and Engineering | 850-435-1755
Sanitation Services | 850-435-1890
Critical city operations are continuing as normal
Emergency services such as 911, police and fire continue to operate normally. Also, critical city operations like the Pensacola International Airport and the Port of Pensacola have not been affected by the incident.
Reeves noted Tuesday that the Pensacola International Airport had its busiest weekend ever without an issue despite the ongoing incident.
Has this happened before?
In 2019, Pensacola suffered a ransomware cyberattack. Hackers infiltrated the city's computer networks, locked down the systems, stole city data, and demanded a ransom for its return.
Hackers who took responsibility for the attack posted 2GB of city data online.
Thanks to safe data backups, the city was able to restore its systems without having to pay the ransom demanded by hackers.
The city did spend more than $300,000 to bring in a consultant to review its cybersecurity policies and pay for identity theft protection for more than 57,000 people whose personal information may have been compromised in the attack.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola cyberattack. shuts down Pensacola Energy online bill pay
