Columbus Cyberattack Fallout: 74% of Systems Restored, Full Report Still Pending

The Department of Technology for the City of Columbus is still recovering from a large-scale cyberattack that occurred at the end of July. Three months later, a quarter of the city’s computer systems remain non-operational, and the attackers have leaked the personal data of hundreds of thousands of residents on the dark web.

At the latest Columbus City Council meeting, the Director of Technology, Sam Orth, reported that 74% of the systems have been restored so far. He stated that the primary focus is currently on restoring internet services, though he declined to provide an exact timeline for when the work would be completed.

The official assured the council that the most critical city systems are already functioning. “The remaining systems are used less frequently, but that does not mean they are unimportant. We are doing everything possible to bring them back online as quickly as possible,” Orth emphasized during a brief six-minute update to the council.

Particular concern has been raised over the delayed release of the official report on the scale of the cyberattack. Authorities initially promised to present it by the end of October, but with just 10 days left in the month, no publication date has been announced. Moreover, the deadline has now been pushed to the end of the year.

City Council member Nick Bankston stated that releasing the report is a top priority for the council, as it would allow for formal public hearings and the opportunity to ask critical questions about the incident.

The report is expected to contain detailed information on which specific data was accessed by the hackers and what exactly was stolen during the attack. However, Sam Orth has so far refused to comment on the matter and has also declined interview requests from NBC4.

Meanwhile, city authorities have offered affected residents free credit monitoring. According to Orth, more than 16,500 people have already taken advantage of this service. Registration for the monitoring service is open until November 29.

Experts note that such delays in investigating the aftermath of the cyberattack may indicate the severity of the situation. The prolonged postponement of the report’s release only heightens the anxiety of residents whose personal data may have fallen into the hands of malicious actors.

The situation remains tense: city services are not operating at full capacity, the extent of the data breach is unknown, and the timeline for full system restoration remains unclear. The authorities of Columbus continue to leave residents in the dark about the true consequences of one of the largest cyberattacks in the city’s history.