City of Wichita alerts residents of ‘cyber security incident’
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The City of Wichita is alerting residents of a “cyber security incident” Sunday evening.
The City of Wichita sent out the following alert at 5:19 p.m.:
“The City of Wichita values its constituents and prides itself on providing high-quality services to its residents. We regret to report that certain online City services may be unavailable as we thoroughly review and assess an incident that affected some of our computer systems. As part of this assessment, we turned off our computer network. This decision was not made lightly but was necessary to ensure that systems are securely vetted before returning to service. We will continue to provide updates on this matter at https://www.wichita.gov/1199/Alert“
City of Wichita Alert
Certain systems were encrypted by malware.
According to the city, “Encryption malware is a type of computer virus that locks files without permission.”
To prevent the spread of the malware, the computer network and systems were shut down. Some services may be temporarily unavailable.
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The city is working with third-party specialists to restore the computer network and systems.
Federal and local law enforcement authorities have been notified and are assisting the city.
The city is not releasing who is claiming responsibility for operational security purposes.
The city does not have a timeline for when all systems will be returned to normal.
First responders, including local fire and police departments, are still working.
Tune into KSN News at 10 p.m. for the latest.
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