Phone, email back up after Macon government ‘security breach.’ What’s still not working?

Macon-Bibb County has restored government email and landline phone service following a network breach, but online services were still experiencing issues Thursday and several aspects of government operations were still affected, the county said.

With the internet and network still down five days after the local government experienced a “security breach,” some county projects have been rescheduled, according to Chris Floore, the county’s chief communications officer. But the city did make progress in restoring essential parts of its public-facing website Friday morning.

IT was working to restore county website pages of “top priority” that involve online payments like the tax commissioner’s office, the municipal court system and realty, Floore told The Telegraph.

As of Thursday afternoon, people could visit the tax office to transfer vehicle titles and renew tags, but could not submit property tax or solid waste fee payments online or in person.

“The IT Department is steadily restoring internet and web access to public facing sites and to services needed to operate,” Floore said. “There is no timeline when the different components will be back up.”

“Our team members are doing what they can to meet our community’s needs, but there are some things that are not possible until we restore the internet and network,” County Manager Keith Moffett said in a news release.

The news release called it a “potential cybersecurity incident.”

No service that uses the Macon-Bibb website was available Thursday, and there were still issues Friday morning. This includes, but is not limited to, online payments in the court system; park reservations with the Parks and Beautification Department; vehicle tag and title registration; and property tax and garage bill payments with the tax commissioner’s office.

The procurement department, which handles project bids and contracts, paused and rescheduled open bids and public questions which were initially scheduled to be posted online this week or next week, Floore told The Telegraph. These dates are being rescheduled to allow equal access to bidding and inquiries on the projects.

“The Procurement Department opens all of the bids at one time, so it’s all a fair process,” Floore said on a phone call. “But if we’ve had our website shut down for five days, companies haven’t been able to access the documents, which means they don’t have the primary information by which to make their bid.”

Opening deadlines for bids which were scheduled this week or next week include traffic signal repairs and maintenance, the landfill wastewater pump system, Rosa Parks Square renovation and lease of land for agricultural use. Public questions and opening bid dates will be rescheduled for Hollingsworth Drive sidewalk improvements, HVAC maintenance and security services.

Dates can’t be confirmed until the county network is restored, Floore said.

When county officials noticed “unusual activity on its servers” May 11, they took the network offline out of caution, Floore said. Officials were investigating the issue and adding additional security measures.

“We are not unique in this attack, so we have a roadmap that is helping guide our work and help ensure we are protecting our system,” Moffett said.

The county website did not appear functional Thursday morning. Load times were long and an error page appeared when clicking past the website’s home page.

“We have been in contact with federal security officials since Saturday for guidance and assistance,” Floore said.

To submit money orders to the courts, officials recommend to call ahead to find out the total and have a money order prepared for the exact amount. If someone has tried to file a service request via SeeClickFix since Friday, they should call the department directly or customer service at (478) 651-7400, Macon said in a news release.

“This is a steady and gradual process as we make sure every step we take is reviewed carefully to ensure we have confidence in our connections, and I’m proud of how analytical and thorough our team is being with their solutions,” Moffett said. “We want to continue asking for the public’s patience as we continue to restore the affected services and access.”