Minnesota calls in National Guard after St. Paul slammed by ‘digital attack’

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

(Reuters) -Minnesota has called in the National Guard after the city of St. Paul was slammed by what its mayor described as a “deliberate, coordinated, digital attack” carried out by sophisticated hackers.

The office of Governor Tim Walz said in a statement that he was deploying the Guard, which has a cyber protection component, because the attack had “exceeded the city’s response capacity.” 

In a press conference earlier on Tuesday, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said the city had “initiated a full shut down of our information systems as a defensive measure to contain the threat,” triggering WiFi outages across city buildings, disruptions to city libraries, and suspension of network resources. 

“While these disruptions are difficult, they are necessary steps to limit exposure, preserve system integrity, and protect sensitive information,” he said.

Carter said the city had hired two firms to help handle the cleanup operation and was working with the FBI. He did not identify the firms. 

The precise nature of the attack has not been publicly disclosed. Crippling hacks that knock out city services are a hallmark of ransomware incidents, in which hackers deploy data-scrambling software to paralyze victim networks until a ransom payment is made.

Army Brigadier General Simon Schaefer of the Minnesota National Guard said in a statement that the Minnesota National Guard is providing cyber protection support at the request of the city.

An FBI spokesperson told Reuters that the agency was aware of the situation and in contact with city officials. “We are working with partners and lending our investigative expertise,” the spokesperson said.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency referred questions to the city of St. Paul.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter and AJ Vicens; Editing by David Gregorio and Leslie Adler)