Hack Alert: St. Paul hit a coordinated digital attack; Minnesota call in national guard

Minnesota hit the city of St. Paul after “deliberate, coordinated, digital attack” in the National Guard, severely interrupted public services and forced to complete the municipal information systems.St. Paul’s Mayor Melvin Carter confirmed during a press conference on Tuesday that the city started a full shutdown of its information systems as a defensive measure to include the threat generated by Cybertac, as Reuters. The move triggers WiFi outage in city buildings, disrupted services in libraries and suspended network resources. “While these disruption are difficult, they are necessary steps to limit exposure, preserve system integrity and protect sensitive information,” Carter said. Governor Tim Walz’s office said in a statement that the National Guard was being deployed because the measure of cyber attack was “more than the city’s response capacity.” The guard consists of a cyber security component, now supporting local efforts to deal with the crisis. Sena Brigadier General Simon Shefer of Minnesota National Guard confirmed, “Minnesota National Guard is providing cyber protection assistance at the request of the city.” Although the exact nature of the attack has not been disclosed, patterns have similarities for ransomware operations, where hackers usually deploy data-scripting software to paralyze the system until the ransom is paid. Mayor Carter said two firms were brought to support the city’s response, although they did not name them. He also confirmed that the city is working closely with the FBI. “We are working with partners and lending our investigative expertise,” an FBI spokesman told Reuters. The US Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency has referred to all questions to St. Paul city.