Columbus foils cyber attack on IT infrastructure

The City of Columbus is continuing to investigate a cyberattack that attempted to disrupt its city’s IT infrastructure.

The city revealed that the foreign cyber actor could have been attempting to deploy ransomware and solicit a ransom payment from the city. Its Department of Technology identified the July 18 threat and took action to significantly limit potential exposure, which included severing internet connectivity.

While the threat actor’s activity was disrupted, an investigation is ongoing to determine the amount of city data potentially accessed. The FBI and Homeland Security have been contacted to further protect the city’s systems and data.

“[Columbus] was the victim of a c...