Those who were affected by a malicious cyber attack on the City of St. Cloud’s data systems in March 2024 have received, or will, written notice if their information was potentially impacted, the city announced Friday.
Between March 17 25, 2024, criminals gained access to certain systems and obtained certain information. The ransomware attack, where the attacker partitioned off some city digital files and locked them from being accessed and demanded a ransom to release the files, briefly affected some payment portals and part of the customer service phone system for Toho Water Authority's St. Cloud customers.
In response, the city said it undertook a comprehensive review to determine what information was involved and to whom such information relates. With the process concluded, city officials are now providing notice as quickly as possible.
The types of information potentially impacted could have included full names, addresses, Social Security numbers, date of birth, driver's license number or state identification number, passport number.
The city also said some financial account information could have been compromised, like payment card information, online account login credentials, medical information, and health insurance information.
Those potentially affected who still have questions once the notices go out can call 1-800-939-4170 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, excluding major holidays.
For more information on protecting personal information, and to obtain additional resources, visit www.stcloudfl.gov and click on the “Cyber Incident Notice” box on the Home page.
“The city takes this event and information security very seriously,” said City Manager Veronica Miller. “When we became aware of the activity, we moved quickly to mitigate the impacts, and to investigate. We are continuing to strengthen our policies and procedures and implementing safeguards to further enhance the security of our data. Cyber incidents such as these are unfortunately a part of the digital world in which we live, and we are taking all the steps necessary to protect our systems from similar incidents in the future.”
