New Orleans has declared a state of emergency following a ransomware attack.
The city government has effectively been offline since December 13 when employees were instructed to turn off all computers and disconnect them from WiFi networks following reports of suspicious network activity.
“The city asks residents and vendors for their patience and understanding as our Information Technology team works to restore all operations to normal,” said New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell. She also indicated that roughly 4,000 city computers would need to be “scrubbed” for malicious programs.
While Cantrell confirmed that the cyberattack utilized ransomware, no ransom demands have been made.
Although emergency services have not been impacted by the cyberattack, many city departments have been affected: municipal and traffic courts are currently closed, the police department is unable to run background checks, and non-emergency medical responses are experiencing delays.
The Louisiana State Police, FBI, National Guard, and Secret Service are investigating the cyberattack, which marks the third such incident this year in Louisiana.
