Blaine, Minnesota. — Blaine city officials are investigating a “network security incident” that occurred in their system this week.
A source told KARE 11 that city employees were notified of the incident via voicemail messages.
The messages directed city employees to “shut down all computers” and “keep this information confidential.”
KARE 11 contacted city officials for comment, and a city spokesperson provided the following statement:
Earlier this week, the City of Blaine experienced a network security incident, which is being investigated. When we learned of this problem, we immediately launched a thorough and detailed technical investigation with the help of external information technology experts.
As part of our investigation, we collaborated closely with leading external cybersecurity professionals who have dealt with similar incidents in the past. This investigation is still in its early stages and will likely take some time.
Our emergency services have not been interrupted and are still operational. Our phone systems are operational, and employees continue to work at city hall and other city facilities. The public continues to have access to city services.
A city spokesperson says it is too early in the investigation to say whether any protected or sensitive information was accessed.
Bryce Austin is a cybersecurity expert at TCE Strategy.
He claims that cyber criminals frequently target cities because they collect a large amount of private information from their residents, such as names, addresses, and, in some cases, birthdates and social security numbers.
According to Austin, cyber criminals can use this information to set up elaborate scams or steal people’s identities.
“The fact that their systems are still operational makes me believe that they have not been ransomwared. Austin suspects that someone stole sensitive data from their systems and only recently became aware of it.
Austin has no direct connection to the situation in Blaine, but he has worked on similar cases involving other cities and large corporations.
He claims that when an organization is the target of a cyber-attack, there is often a sense of secrecy.
“I wish we had an opposite take on that, because cities could learn from each other about how these things happen,” Austin jokes.
“For public institutions, my opinion is they have a responsibility to be as forthright as they can, because government is there to help its citizens and withholding information about who may have their data doesn’t put the city in a good light.”
A KARE 11 investigation in 2024 revealed that the city of Blaine was defrauded of $1.5 million in a completely separate incident.
It is still unclear whether taxpayers will incur additional costs or whether private information has been stolen in this case.