INDIANAPOLIS — Safety officials revealed details on a recent cyberattack on the city’s communication system that happened over the holidays.
City officials said Tuesday the week-long cyberattacks were aimed at the vital $73 million communication system. The system protects emergency radio, computer traffic and more than 1.4 million 911 calls each year.
“In most of these attacks, you get bombarded with information and messages and phishing and it slowed down some of our capabilities,” said Director of Public Safety Troy Riggs.
The attacks didn’t slow police, fire and ambulance response times, public safety officials said.
This wasn’t the first time that hackers have tried to crack the communication system, a standalone network hardened against cyberattacks.
“We’ve taken measures to reduce those types of attacks and put protocols in place for us to respond,” said former Public Safety Communications Chief Tim Baughman.
Security breaches compromise the personal information of millions of Americans, along with large and small companies each year.
City officials would not elaborate more on the latest cyberattack because it was still under investigation by the FBI and homeland security.
“The same thing we’ve been telling businesses to be ready for, it hit us. It’s not the first time we’ve been hit. But it was more of a coordinated effort. Good news is that we withstood it and will learn from it,” Riggs said.
Reprinted with permission from The Indy Channel