Mayor Grover RobinsonThe City of Pensacola, Florida, has suffered a cyberattack that is impacting phones, email and various e-commerce services, according to Mayor Grover Robinson. After discovering the attack on December 7, the city disconnected its network from the Internet to minimize the damage.Multiple sources indicate it was a ransomware attack. However, Mayor Robinson declined to say if the attack involved ransomware, and whether the city was contemplating payment a ransom to hackers. Mayor Robinson's comments about the Pensacola cyberattack are in this facebook video.Pensacola services that are down include:
City emails and phones
311 customer service
Online payments including Pensacola Energy and City of Pensacola Sanitation Services
However, the attack did not impact 911 and emergency services, and those services continue to operate. Also, Robinson said officials did not know if the attack was connected in any way to the deadly shooting at NAS Pensacola on December 6, The Pensacola News Journal notes.Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, approximately 13 miles from the border with Alabama. As of 2010, the city's population was 51,923, Wikipedia reports.
Hackers Attack Multiple Florida Cities
Multiple Florida cities and municipalities have suffered ransomware attacks this year. Examples include:
Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.