The City of Coweta is dealing with a ransomware attack that has left employees unable to access some computers and online files.
City officials say no credit card or payment information has been compromised, but the attack is affecting some in-person bill payment services at City Hall.
The city first noticed the problem Wednesday and is still working to determine how the attack happened and who is responsible.
Coweta City Manager Julie Casteen says the attackers have demanded a ransom, but the city is refusing to communicate with them.
“They’ve demanded a ransom, we don’t know what the amount is because we’re not communicating with them. We just refuse to do that.”
Casteen says the city has taken immediate steps to protect its financial accounts, including changing usernames and passwords.
“We also took immediate steps to put safeguards on our bank accounts and changed our passwords, our usernames and everything else to make sure even if they did somehow access those, they wouldn’t be able to get into it.”
Customers will not be charged late fees or have their services shut off while the city works to resolve the issue.
Officials also say there is no current risk to residents’ personal or financial information.
Online payments through Xpress Bill Pay can still safely be made, according to the city.
Coweta officials say police and fire services are operating normally because those departments use separate computer systems.
City IT staff expect systems to begin improving week as they work to restore access and determine the full extent of the attack.
Coweta resident Misty Edwards says she is confident the city will take the appropriate steps.
“I think the most important thing is notifying the public that something has happened, which they have done, and then they’re going to take appropriate action.”
Edwards says she is not concerned the situation.
“I honestly was at peace because I have full confidence in the City of Coweta and how things are run.”
The city says it will not pay the attackers responsible for the ransomware.
The full story
This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.
