Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Tuesday called in the National Guard’s cyber experts to help the City of Saint Paul respond to a cyberattack.
The city’s systems were hit over the weekend and Saint Paul on Monday decided to shut them down to contain the intrusion.
“The City of Saint Paul is actively responding to a digital security incident that is temporarily impacting access to some internal systems and online services. Our teams are working closely with local, state, and federal partners to resolve the situation and restore full functionality,” a notice on the city’s website reads.
The sophisticated attack exceeded the city’s response capacity, and on Tuesday Governor Walz issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency and activating the deployment of Minnesota’s National Guard cyber protection support.
“We are committed to working alongside the City of Saint Paul to restore cybersecurity as quickly as possible,” Governor Walz said.
“The Minnesota National Guard’s cyber forces will collaborate with city, state, and federal officials to resolve the situation and mitigate lasting impacts. Above all, we are committed to protecting the safety and security of the people of Saint Paul,” he continued.
Emergency services have remained operational in the city, but some non-emergency services may be temporarily unavailable, such as online payments, libraries, and Wi-Fi connectivity.
While taking systems offline is the typical response to a ransomware attack, Saint Paul refrained from sharing details on the nature of the incident and whether a ransom demand was made.
The attack was specifically targeting Saint Paul’s IT infrastructure, city officials said during a press conference on Tuesday, adding that an investigation into the matter is underway.
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