How to avoid scams and fraud online
Use these cybersecurity tips to avoid scams and fraud online.
The city of Columbus is investigating a cybersecurity incident that city officials say is unrelated to Friday’s CrowdStrike global outage that affected airlines and many other businesses, government operations and regular citizens.
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said in a media release Monday that the city’s Technology Office believes the cause of the city’s cybersecurity issues may have stemmed from a city employee opening a malicious email.
The technology bureau found “evidence of anomalies” in its systems on Thursday that were unrelated to CrowdStrike’s global outage, according to the statement. The bureau took “swift action” to contain and limit the breach, including cutting off internet connections to prevent data leaks, the statement said.
Technology officials believe an employee clicked on a malicious link in an email, but the source is still under investigation, according to the statement.
The announcement said the city’s proactive response will result in disruptions to information technology services relied upon by Columbus employees and residents, and that it will take time to restore all services to full functionality, but no timeline was given.
The 911 emergency reporting system and 311 non-emergency services system are up and running, and employee payroll is running, according to the statement.
City officials said it was unclear whether any personally identifiable information was leaked in the incident, but that they would warn individuals if they found out their personal information had been compromised.
The statement said technology workers are in the “root and recovery phase” of restoring systems, and city officials are consulting with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts to root out the cyber threat and limit any further potential risks.
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Shahid Meighan
