Everett City Hall closed to the public after cybersecurity incident
Everett City Hall was closed to the public Tuesday as officials worked to restore the city's network and technology systems following a cybersecurity incident discovered Sunday night.
The closure left some residents who arrived at city hall to conduct business having to turn around.
"Our priority is to ensure the security of our systems and infrastructure while also investigating the full scope of the incident," Mayor Robert J. Van Campen said in a written statement. "Our IT department and the Everett Police Department are working diligently to restore full City operations for residents as quickly as possible."
Officials have not disclosed the nature or extent of the incident. Everett police, fire, the Department of Public Works, Everett Public Schools and Everett Public Libraries were all operating normally.
The incident in Everett is at least the second notable cybersecurity incident in Massachusetts in as many days. Springfield Public Schools canceled classes and after-school activities Tuesday after a breach impacted systems needed for the district to operate. Students and staff were also asked to stay off the school's computer network as officials investigated the scope of the breach.
Cynthia Kaiser, senior vice president of the Halcyon Ransomware Research Center and a former deputy assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division, said attacks like these are becoming more common.
"I would expect to see more of these types of attacks in the future because it's getting easier to actually get onto a network," Kaiser said.
Kaiser said government agencies can be particularly vulnerable because of limited technology and cybersecurity staffing.
"When you're looking at state and local governments, they're hit because each agency might have its own IT, there aren't enough IT personnel to go around and security people to go around and they do critical functions that citizens depend on," she said.
Kaiser said that makes it important for the public sector to proactively address potential network vulnerabilities, particularly when software or hardware flaws are discovered.
"Fixing a flaw in your software or hardware, that's an emergency. You have to do it right away or else attackers can exploit that and move forward," Kaiser said.
Everett officials said a decision about city hall operations Wednesday will be made as more information becomes available.
"We know a City Hall closure creates an inconvenience for our residents, and we appreciate their patience while our team works through this," Van Campen's statement read. "We will continue to be transparent with the community as we learn more and will take the necessary steps to make sure our systems are stronger and more secure moving forward."
The city says third-party systems used for online bill payments and other online transactions remain operational.
