The City of Everett has restored normal operations following the cybersecurity incident identified earlier this month and has taken significant steps to strengthen its technology infrastructure and reduce future vulnerabilities.
The incident, identified on September 6, affected the City’s internal network and technology systems and led to the temporary closure of City Hall. Essential services, including Police, Fire, 911, Public Works, schools and libraries, remained operational, while City employees provided basic municipal services from the Connolly Center.
The City was able to contain the incident before it spread further, and only a very small amount of City data was impacted. The City continues to work with its vendors and cybersecurity experts to determine whether any personally identifiable information was involved. That process can take time, and anyone identified as being impacted will be notified directly.
When Mayor Robert J. Van Campen took office in January, the City was operating with significantly aging technology infrastructure. His administration had already begun working to modernize the City’s technology systems and address longstanding infrastructure needs in the months leading up to the incident.
That work included hiring Chief Information Officer Norilyz Valentin in August to lead the City’s technology operations and help guide its ongoing modernization efforts. Since the incident, the City has moved forward with replacing aging hardware and infrastructure and taking additional steps to strengthen the security and resiliency of its systems.
“This was an incredibly frustrating disruption for our residents and our employees, but I’m proud of how our team responded,” said Mayor Robert J. Van Campen. “People worked around the clock to get us back up and running safely while finding ways to keep serving our residents. Now, our responsibility is to learn from what happened and make sure we come out of it stronger and better prepared for the future.”
For Valentin, the incident came just weeks after stepping into her new role leading the City’s technology operations.
“You don’t expect to be responding to a cybersecurity incident in your third week on the job, but it gave me a firsthand look at where we needed to strengthen and modernize our systems,” said Valentin. “We’ve made significant progress in a short amount of time, and there’s more work ahead as we continue building a stronger technology environment for the City.”
City Hall reopened to the public on September 21, with regular municipal services restored at 484 Broadway. The City’s cybersecurity work and investigation remain ongoing