Mayor asks for patience amid cybersecurity breach
Municipal officials continue to refuse disclosure of any details about the nature of the hack
Mayor Andrea Horwath is asking for the public’s patience as the city grapples with an ongoing cybersecurity breach that has hobbled an array of municipal services since Sunday.
The city and outside experts are doing everything possible to deal with it, Horwath said, but the mayor and other municipal officials still refused to provide details of the wide-reaching hack Wednesday.
“I understand that people want more information, but the very nature of this kind of situation is one
that allows us to only provide some information as we go along,” she told reporters.
Senior staff have activated Hamilton’s emergency operations centre (EOC), a focused cross-departmental response the city employed during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, to tackle the cyberattack, Horwath noted.
“And we’re going to continue to do that because that’s what people deserve and that’s what they should be able to expect.”
The mayor said it’s “too premature” to say what data or which kind of data might have been swiped in the breach. The mayor also said she’s not “aware of” whether ransomware — software that holds information hostage for payout — factors into the cyber-emergency.
Horwath addressed reporters after she and councillors met behind closed doors for nearly three hours for an update from staff on the cybersecurity problem.
Failing internet services at city hall meant city politicians didn’t have regular access to agendas and other normal electronic functions, which resulted in show-by-hand voting and no virtual participation via video.
After emerging from a closed session, council voted to keep the confidential session private and deferred all of the remaining agenda discussion items to a future meeting — except for one property matter.
That meant a slew of city business — including sign-off on new residential zoning and a contested affordable-housing plan for a portion of a municipal parking lot in Stoney Creek — was put on hold.
Amid the ongoing fallout, committee meetings have also been cancelled this week.
Four days into the service disruption, which has debilitated the city’s IT systems and phone lines, city officials continued to deny The Spectator’s requests to explain the nature of the hack and whether sensitive data had been accessed.
“We are trying to provide information as quickly as possible and to be as transparent as possible,” city manager Marnie Cluckie said in an interview Tuesday.
Likewise, Horwath described the predicament Wednesday as a “rapidly changing situation” during which the city is trying to provide information “when we can.”
“I would just ask for patience and understanding in that regard.”
Transparency is important, Horwath added, “but there’s also an issue of protecting the interests of the public and the city.”
When she took office, Horwath recalled, she told staff not to wait to alert the public about sewage leak into Hamilton Harbour despite not knowing all of the mishaps details at the time.
“This is a little bit different of a situation that, as you can imagine, cybersecurity is quite complex and quite complicated.”
It wasn’t clear which police service, if any, was investigating the breach. Hamilton police have said the city hasn’t asked it to probe the situation.
The RCMP said it’s not investigating and the OPP told The Spectator to contact Hamilton police about the case.
The city, in turn, would only say “police have been made aware of the incident.”
The city also declined to tell The Spectator which firm or firms have been hired to help the municipality respond to the breach — or what it’s paying them.
“We cannot provide information that relates to the ongoing investigation.”
As well, the city wouldn’t specify how many staff have been redeployed from regular duties to respond to the emergency: “While the EOC is activated, we cannot provide specifics.”
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, which investigates breaches of privacy including cyberattacks, told The Spectator that it had not been contacted about the hack.
Typically, the commissioner does not launch a probe unless it receives a complaint from a public agency.
“If a public institution in Ontario has experienced a breach, or suspected breach, involving the personal information of individuals, we strongly encourage them to contact our office as soon as reasonably possible,” a commissioner spokesperson said in an email.
Meanwhile, municipal operations like HSR continue to serve residents but “may be affected in terms of frequency” and “buses jumping against each other,” for instance, Horwath said.
On Wednesday, staff also said there would be no interruption to Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program cheques and payments.
Cluckie said emergency services are “operational” and able to respond to people “quickly” as normal, but some “back-end processes have become manual.”
In an email, paramedics union president Mario Posteraro noted a “level of inconvenience and frustration when numerous electronicbased processes and systems are no longer accessible,” but responses to calls for service “have not been compromised to date.”
The cybersecurity breach has not affected Hamilton Police Service operations, spokesperson Jackie Penman told The Spectator.
Cluckie said staff would provide “comprehensive list” of affected programs and services “as soon as possible.”
A list posted to the city’s website, Hamilton.ca, grew Wednesday. Here’s some of what’s flagged:
■ Residents should pay taxes through financial institutions or by mail;
■ Municipal service centres are open but “with some service restrictions”;
■ Pre-authorized tax payments may be delayed;
■ Ontario Works offices, including the Special Supports program, are open, but communications for both programs “are impacted” and inperson meetings are cancelled;
■ Those who need help with future benefits are to visit the 1550 Upper James St., Unit 14A, office in person;
■ Staff can’t access the city’s system to process accounts payable payments, but vendors are asked to continue sending invoices as normal;
■ Software systems used at transfer stations and community recycling centres are off-line and cash is the only accepted payment option;
■ The Red Hill Family Centre is open but phone lines are down;
■ Child-care offices are closed but staff are available to support clients;
■ All city phone lines are down except for 905-546-2489 (CITY). Expect delays in connecting;
■ The HSR app is off-line but PDF schedules are available on the city’s website;
■ Bus drivers don’t have computerized scheduling and stop announcements aren’t working;
■ DARTS service continues to run and can be reached at 905-539-1717.
■ Water and wastewater operations aren’t affected but expect delays for customer-service programs;
■ The provincial offences administration office is open and courts are operating;
■ Recreation centres, seniors’ centres, arenas and golf courses are operating but phone lines are down. For now, no impact on spring program registration is expected;
■ Long-term-care homes Macassa and Wentworth lodges can’t receive phone calls. People are asked to reach Macassa via businessoffice.macassalodge@hamilton.ca or 905-973-3954 (Monday-Friday) 8-4 p.m., and Wentworth via businessoffice.wentworthlodge@hamilton.ca or 289-442-6253 (MondayFriday) 8:40-4:30 p.m.
■ Various online systems, including building permits, zoning verification, job applications portal, marriage licences and public health inspection results are down;
■ Websites for the Hamilton Public Library, Red Book directory of community services, Hamilton Farmers’ Market and food access guide are off-line.
Other municipalities and publicsector entities like hospitals and charities have been increasingly targeted by bad cyber-actors in recent years.
For example, in October, the Toronto Public Library fell prey to a cyberattack that officials said compromised the personal data of staff and family members.
The Hamilton Community Foundation recently publicized that fraudsters had swiped about $920,000 from the charity.