Naperville web systems to be down another week
Ten days have now passed since Naperville’s website and email systems were first hacked and at least another week will pass before citywide email and the city website are restored.
City Manager Doug Krieger said once the systems are restored, they will be brought back online to each city department, one at a time.
“Email will be back next week but bringing the website back online will require, at a minimum, some additional security software which we are currently evaluating,” Krieger said. “We will not be bringing a website up until the currently known vulnerabilities have been addressed.”
While the system was accessed, Krieger said no information was removed. Both he and Police Chief Bob Marshall emphasized public safety and personal financial information was not compromised at any time.
“We have not identified any areas of damage to our systems and we are focusing our efforts on the security aspects of the issue,” Krieger said. “At this point in time we cannot specifically identify the perpetrator; however, we do believe it was a human intrusion rather than a software invasion.”
The city has filed a police report and Naperville investigators have been working daily with city information technology officials and the FBI’s Computer Intrusion Unit to track down the offenders.
Marshall said the breach is much larger than any other case the city’s forensic investigators have faced.
“Our experience is limited at best. We investigate crimes that occur using the Internet and technology but breaching the security of the Internet is a whole different situation,” Marshall said. “We brought the FBI in because they have a unit that specializes in these crimes and if the perpetrator is found to be outside of the city, the FBI has jurisdiction to prosecute.”
While the website is down, the city las launched “website lite” at naperville.il.us which incudes a list of phone numbers and city meeting information.
City staff can be contacted with FOIA requests, building permits or other matters at (630) 420-6111, where callers will hear prompts enabling them to reach the appropriate department; call volumes may be running higher than usual. They may also inquire in person at the municipal center. Paper copies of meeting agendas and packets are available to view in the city clerk’s office as well as the Naperville Public Library.
Updates about the status of the city’s full website and related services will be made available through other communication outlets, including government access TV station WCNC (Ch. 6-WOW, Ch. 10-Comcast, Ch. 99-AT&T) and WPFP 1610AM. Information also can be found on the city’s Facebook page at facebook.com/NapervilleIL and Twitter account at www.twitter.com/NapervilleIL.