A network security incident disrupted online services in Columbia, South Carolina, limiting access to service requests, business licensing and permitting, city officials said Tuesday.
City technology staff detected suspicious activity on the municipal network and notified the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. The agency is investigating and helping restore affected applications, WLTX reported Tuesday.
Police, fire, 911 communications, Columbia Water systems and the City Payment Center, including online payments, remained operational, officials told WLTX.
Columbia, South Carolina’s capital, lies in the central part of the state.
Disruptions affected the MyColaSC service-request application and online functions for business licensing, parks and recreation, planning and development, geographic information systems and animal services, according to WLTX.
“The City of Columbia is currently experiencing a network and system outage that is impacting access to permitting and other technology,” the city says in a Planning and Development Services notice.
The notice directs people with pressing permitting questions to contact the department by telephone while the city works to resolve the outage.
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Residents unable to use MyColaSC were directed to report nonemergency service requests by phone.
In August, a cybersecurity incident in Darlington County, South Carolina disrupted computers and phone lines, limiting some county services while 911 and emergency operations continued. Officials took some systems offline and brought in outside cybersecurity specialists and law enforcement.
Columbia officials have not said whether personal information was compromised. The available statements do not establish ransomware or identify an attacker. Restoration remained underway Tuesday, with no timetable for bringing all affected applications back.
