Ransomware attack targets city

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    INDEPENDENCE, MO (KCTV KSMO) — Independence’s city manager says there will be some temporary disruptions to some services as they fend off an attempted ransomware attack on the city’s technology systems.

After the attack began, city employees worked with forensic specialists to identify the problems and repel the attack, said city manager Zach Walker.

Part of the pushback effort against the attack includes system scans that may result in temporary disruptions to certain internal and external technology services from the city, Walker said.

“These service disruptions should be limited in duration and will be resolved as quickly as possible as we continue our ongoing response,” he said.

See the city’s full statement on the situation below:

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – The City of Independence City Manager Zach Walker issued the following statement following an apparent ransomware attack on City technology.

“The City of Independence recently experienced an event that resulted in technical difficulties and disruption to multiple services. It appears that these disruptions are the result of a ransomware event that was discovered and stopped before it could infect the full City network. We want to ensure that you have the most accurate and up-to-date information about this incident.

Upon discovering the event, we began aggressively working with forensic specialists to confirm the nature and scope of this incident and implement a mitigation and response plan. Our team has been working diligently around the clock to conduct a thorough, methodical investigation and restore access to the impacted systems as quickly as possible.

In addition, the team are taking several steps to ensure the security of the City’s environment moving forward. These steps include full system scans and restoring impacted systems from available backups. These efforts may result in temporary disruptions to certain services both internally and externally. These service disruptions should be limited in duration and will be resolved as quickly as possible as we continue our ongoing response.

We will provide the public with additional information as the investigation progresses and relevant information is learned. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this process.“

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