Ransomware attack disrupts Georgia city payments
The City of Marietta, Georgia, was forced to halt some online credit card payment systems following a nationwide ransomware attack that began on February 6. The incident highlights growing cyber risks for municipalities and the subsequent need for secure claims processing and business continuity solutions.
- The ransomware attack did not directly target the City of Marietta's systems, but rather a third-party payment processor, BridgePay Network Solutions, which is used by hundreds of local governments across the country. - The disruption specifically impacted the city's ability to process online credit card payments for business licenses, as well as excise taxes, liquor, hotel and motel, and auto rental payments. - While online payments are unavailable, the city is still accepting in-person payments at City Hall for the affected services. - According to BridgePay, their initial forensic investigation shows that while files were encrypted, there is no evidence that any payment card data was compromised or that usable data was exposed. - The attack on BridgePay began around 3:29 a.m. on February 6, leading to a full outage of key services including their Gateway API, virtual terminal, and hosted payment pages. - Federal law enforcement, including the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, have been engaged to investigate the ransomware incident at BridgePay. - This is not the first time the City of Marietta has dealt with a cyberattack affecting bill payments; in 2019, a breach of the "Click2Gov" system exposed the information of thousands of utility customers. - Ransomware attacks are a growing financial burden for municipalities, with downtime and recovery costs sometimes reaching millions of dollars, significantly more than the original ransom demands.
