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marktadeson
Mar 23 min read

Ongoing Cybersecurity Incident



WARD 11 PHONES ARE DOWN

WARD 11 EMAIL IS ITERMITTENT. PLEASE BE PATIENT AS THERE MAY BE DELAYS.


FOR URGENT MATTERS, PLEASE CALL THE CITY: 905-546-2489




The City of Hamilton is currently facing a cyber incident that began on Sunday February 25th, affecting several IT systems.


Immediate action has been taken, involving cybersecurity experts, insurers, legal counsel, and relevant authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and mitigate the impact. At this early stage, it is challenging to identify the specific information that may have been accessed.


Despite the situation, critical services such as transit, water, wastewater treatment, and emergency services continue to operate without disruption. The Customer Contact Centre is operational and able to take phone calls from residents, 905-546-2489 (CITY). As their team is on a reduced capacity, we ask for the public’s patience while the team triages phone calls. Online payment systems are impacted, prompting staff to manually process routine transactions and accept cash when possible.


Several city services are affected, including challenges with Accounts Payable processing, Cemeteries operations, and Child Care services. Additionally, all Committee meetings scheduled from February 26 to March 1 are canceled, with no internet access available in Council Chambers.


Engineering Services is experiencing limitations in online Drawing Requests through SPIDER, as well as Right-of-Way Permitting capabilities. GIS systems, responsible for city mapping, are temporarily down.


While Hamilton Water and Long-term Care Homes remain unaffected, other municipal services face restrictions. Hamilton Public Library branches and Study Halls are open, but some services such as WiFi, public computers, printing, and scanning are currently unavailable. Efforts are underway to restore these services.


Municipal Service Centres operate with restrictions, and online city services like fire prevention requests, dog licensing, and marriage license applications are temporarily unavailable.


Property tax payments can still be made through financial institutions. However, online tools such as the eBilling Portal and Property Inquiry Tool are currently offline. The City is actively addressing these issues and will provide updates as they become available. We appreciate your understanding and patience during this ongoing situation. For specific inquiries, please refer to the provided contact information.


HOW CAN I GET INFORMATION OR ASSISTANCE?


For more information or assistance, please contact the relevant departments:


Ward 11:

(We have been told there are delivery delays affecting some incoming/outgoing mail. Please be patient.)


CITY HALL CUSTOMER CONTACT CENTRE: 905-546-2489 (CITY).



  • Cemeteries:

  • Sales: 905-973-4064

  • Administrative requests: 365-378-5641






CAN'T WE KNOW MORE?


While we know how unsettling this situation may be due to the carefully released publicly available information from the City, we can assure you, very good people are working very hard to restore service. And, as hard as it may be to believe, the Ward 11 office has just as much information as you!


As the investigation progresses and authorities gain a clearer understanding of the incident, the City will likely aim to strike a balance. Timely updates will provided to the public, maintaining transparency and keeping residents informed. This approach ensures accuracy, security, and public confidence while navigating the complex landscape of cybersecurity challenges in our increasingly interconnected world.


The City has created a detailed Cybersecurity Incident Webpage where all current updates will be provided. While I have included a small selection of information above, please visit the CyberSecurity Incident Updates page for more information:





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