COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther issued an update on the state of the city's IT systems and the financial impact following the cyber attack they suffered in July.

What You Need To Know

  • The City of Columbus issued an update on the state of their IT systems and the financial impact following the cyber attack they suffered in July.

  • Personally identifiable information was released onto the dark web as a result of the attack

  • The city says the attack was carried out by the overseas ransomware group Rhysida

  • The city has also been tracking the financial cost this attack has incurred, which is in the millions of dollars

During a press conference in August, Ginther and City Attorney Zach Klein confirmed that personally identifiable information was released onto the dark web as a result of the attack.

In the update released Friday, the mayor said “most critical IT stems have been restored.”

“…and we will continue to work through our entire IT environment until we achieve full restoration across all our systems,” the update reads. “Specifically, 72% of the city’s 441 technology systems are fully restored, and another 5% are partially restored. Our goal is to have all systems up and running at peak efficiency by the end of October.”

The update said the attack was carried out by the overseas ransomware group Rhysida.

Columbus has also been tracking the expenses related to this attack, which is in the millions of dollars.

The mayor said he issued an emergency order that allowed up to $4 million to be used by the Department of Technology to protect/restore systems and investigate the attack.

Here’s the current budget, according to the update:

  • “Up to $2,401,052 for system forensics, systems remediation, data mining, data forensics and cyberthreat monitoring. These services are helping to limit the extent of the cyber-attack, understand what occurred, and determine what information was posted to the dark web by Rhysida
  • Up to $1,644,348 for Experian identity theft protection services, including credit and dark web monitoring for the public
  • Up to $1,952,100 for legal counsel related to the incident response
  • Up to $1,000,000 for systems, endpoint and cyber-threat monitoring for long-term use by the city
  • Up to $300,000 for legal counsel related to litigation
  • Up to $2,500 for expenses such as hard drives and tools”

To pay for expenses through the rest of this year, the Department of Technology is seeking $7 million from the city council, according to the update. They will be presenting the legislation to authorize the funding to the council on Monday.

The mayor recommends anyone who has shared personal information with the city—residents or not—enroll in the free two-year “Experian credit protection, dark web monitoring and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance.”

“Cyber-attacks occur every single day – in cities and organizations large and small all over the world – but we are committed to going the extra mile in Columbus to protect our residents, repair the damage that has been done and prevent future attacks," the mayor's update reads. "This work is complex and ever-evolving, and it requires our full and deliberate attention, but I am confident we are making excellent progress in restoring our technical infrastructure and building back stronger than ever before.”

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