A memo from Cranbrook city hall confirms the administration’s computer system was hit by a malware attack last year, which cost roughly $120,000 to resolve.
The incident was confirmed in documentation presented to city council during a special meeting last week, in a memo from the Office of Innovation and Collaboration.
A media release issued by the city on Tuesday afternoon also confirmed the incident, which took worsktations and servers offline in March 2018 with ransomware software.
Ransomware is considered malicious software that locks a user out of their computer system or network unless a ransom is paid.
The release said no personal information was compromised and that a backup system was in place to recover lost files.
The RCMP was brought in to investigate and the city also conducted it’s own internal investigaton.
Two months after the incident, Chief Administration Officer David Kim told mayor and councillors that the city had conducted an emergency upgrade of information technology (IT) assets involving hardware, consulting services and software during a council meeting.
The city says it is positioning itself to to be more resilient to future threats, and that security will remain a priority over the next several years.
