Huber Heights able to process city payroll, but still solving cyber attack issues

City government is still studying which residents were impacted, so they can be notified
ajc.com

Two weeks after a cyber ransomware attack, Huber Heights city government officials say their Income Tax Division is back up and running, and the city’s payroll was processed successfully last week.

But a forensics team is still reviewing data this week to determine exactly what data was breached, and who was affected.

“This is a very time intensive process,” city officials said late Monday. “Once we know more, anyone that has been found to be impacted will be notified. The city is also still working on what that plan for notifications will look like.”

It’s not clear at this time if any resident data was affected by the attack.

The city’s Information Technology Division hoped to have the Water (Utility) Division billing and payment system completely operational by Tuesday. The city suspended all late penalties and disconnections through the end of November.

The IT Division is also wiping and restoring every city device on the network this week. The city is using temporary device accommodations until the original technology has been cleaned and restored.

Since the ransomware attack discovered Nov. 12, Huber Heights has regained access to functions within the public works, economic development, human resources, zoning/code enforcement, and finance/payroll departments, thanks to the use of temporary devices not connected to the city’s compromised server.

Services that were still disabled included new building plan review, which is conducted by the fire department, and geographic information system mapping functions utilized by the engineering department. The police department also was unable to release property from evidence.

City council voted Nov. 13 to enter a state of emergency. City Manager Rick Dzik said then that the declaration gives him the authority to use up to $350,000 in city funds in response to the cyber attack. Dzik noted the city does have cybersecurity insurance that will cover a portion of the costs.