cyber attack

Pensacola Government Faces Cyber Attack Hours After Shooting at Naval Base

The government has not linked the attack to the shooting, which is being investigated as an act of terrorism.

Just hours after a shooter killed three sailors at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, the city itself said it was facing a cyber attack that caused the government to disconnect city services until the problem could be addressed.

Mayor Grover Robinson said the cyber attack, which began on Friday, has affected the city’s email and phone services as well as 311 customer service and online payments to energy and sanitation services. But 911 and emergency services have not been affected by the attack, CNN reported.

City leaders declined to link the attack with the shooting at the naval base, which was conducted by a Saudi airman participating in flight training alongside other international students. The FBI is investigating the shooting, which injured eight people and killed three others, as an act of terrorism.

“It's really too early to say one way or another,” Kaycee Lagarde, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said to CNN regarding a connection between the cyber attack and the shooting. "We understand that it's on people's mind but we just don't know at this point.”

The FBI’s office in Jacksonville echoed that statement in a tweet on Monday.

 

 

The incident was reported to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security as a precaution, according to a press release from the city. City services were still down as of Tuesday afternoon.

“The city does not yet have an estimate on when services will be fully restored, but Technology Resources staff is working to restore all network servers as soon as possible,” the government said in a Dec. 9 statement.

Officials did not specify if the attack involved ransomware, which hackers have increasingly used to extort money from city and state governments over the past two years. At least 22 local governments in Texas faced a series of coordinated ransomware attacks in August, not to mention recent high-profile attacks in Atlanta and Baltimore that cost the cities millions.

Hackers have also begun to increase their attacks on managed service providers, which offer technology and cybersecurity services to hundreds of businesses and local governments. The method allows malicious actors to extort several companies at once and increase their chances of receiving financial rewards.

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

New Products

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols.

  • Hanwha QNO-7012R

    Hanwha QNO-7012R

    The Q Series cameras are equipped with an Open Platform chipset for easy and seamless integration with third-party systems and solutions, and analog video output (CVBS) support for easy camera positioning during installation. A suite of on-board intelligent video analytics covers tampering, directional/virtual line detection, defocus detection, enter/exit, and motion detection.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.