Several weeks ago, relaxing into vacation mode in Florida, I turned on the morning news as we got ready for the beach. The phrase “cybersecurity breach” caught my attention, especially in light of recent MuniBlog posts on vulnerabilities to cyberattacks. Sure enough, the issue had hit home for residents of Lee County, on the Gulf Coast, where I was staying for a few days. Hackers had introduced a virus to the county website, forcing the county to disable access to the website to prevent further vulnerabilities.

The County Manager was tight-lipped, which is not an uncommon response to these incidents – although the silence did give rise to speculation, including rumors of ransomware. But the county reassured residents that no payment or personal information had been compromised, nor had taxpayer money been spent as ransomware. After a five-day disruption, the website and its functions were gradually restored. Further investigations are underway.

Finding myself in the heart of a cyberattack, even temporarily, reminded me of two important aspects of these incidents. First of all, everyone is vulnerable. Bustling cities and quiet beach towns, small businesses to major companies – no organization can take for granted its defenses against the growing sophistication of hackers. Second of all, I never realized the magnitude of the impact. Shutting down a municipal website for five days, including several business days, means pulling the plug on information, services and transactions that are conducted online: paying taxes or tickets, filing building permits, renewing driver’s licenses or library books. Even if no emergency services are interrupted, it’s a hardship for residents and costly for municipalities whose employees depend on functioning computer systems.