Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Tuesday called in the National Guard’s cyber specialists to assist the City of Saint Paul in responding to a cyberattack.
The city’s systems were compromised over the weekend, prompting officials to shut them down on Monday in order to contain the breach.
A statement on the city’s website reads, “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.”
Because the attack was more advanced than the city could handle on its own, Governor Walz signed an executive order on Tuesday declaring a state of emergency and authorizing the deployment of the Minnesota National Guard’s cyber protection team.
“We are committed to working alongside the City of Saint Paul to restore cybersecurity as quickly as possible,” said Governor Walz.
He added that the Minnesota National Guard’s cyber unit would work with officials at the city, state, and federal levels to address the incident and minimize long-term damage. “Above all, we are committed to protecting the safety and security of the people of Saint Paul,” he said.
Emergency services have continued to operate normally, although some non-emergency services such as online payment systems, library services, and public Wi-Fi may be temporarily inaccessible.
While shutting down systems is a standard response to ransomware attacks, city officials have not revealed the specific nature of the breach or confirmed whether a ransom was demanded. During a press conference on Tuesday, they stated that the attack was aimed at Saint Paul’s IT infrastructure and that an investigation is currently ongoing.
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