Security issue deactivates City of Revelstoke's emergency notification system

The City of Revelstoke’s emergency notification system has been disabled due to security issues.

An alert was sent to members who had signed up to receive notifications from the city as well as posted to the city’s website.

According to Cindy Floyd, spokesperson for the city, the issue was identified after “a community member brought their concerns to the attention of the city.”

The security issue involved subscribers’ contact information being easily accessible. Including email, name, and last four digits of the phone number.

“The vulnerability was identified, but there is no evidence of a substantive data breach,” said Floyd.

Upon identifying the issue, the city deactivated the system and notified the service provider. The alert also stated that ‘coincidentally’ the city was in the process of acquiring a new product for real-time emergency alerts but provided no further information or timeline.

“Until a satisfactory solution is provided, the city has a locally stored and secured a copy of the subscriber list,” said Floyd.

The city encourages people to stay up to date via social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook for details as they become available.

The Revelstoke Fire and Rescue Service released a post on Facebook informing the public of the risk concerning Wap Creek Fire stating, “Currently the Wap Creek fire is burning on the West slope of Mt. English so that’s two mountain peaks as the crow flies. This means this fire is not an immediate risk or threat to Revelstoke.”

For those wishing to stay up to date check out Twitter and Facebook to receive notification when posts are released by the city. Or follow the steps below: