The District of Columbia Housing Authority said Monday that a cybersecurity incident disrupted access to its website and email, though offices remained open and customer service was available by phone.
The authority provides public housing and voucher services in Washington, making the outage a potential disruption for residents, landlords and applicants who rely on online systems or staff access to records.
DCHA said in a social media notice that it was “experiencing a system disruption due to a cybersecurity incident” and directed customers to contact its customer service center by phone. The agency’s website was inaccessible Monday afternoon when reviewed.
Whitney Sweetwine, communications director for D.C. Council member Robert White, told DysruptionHub on Tuesday that White’s office had been in “close and consistent communication” with DCHA after the agency shared that it was experiencing “an active cyber-attack.”
Sweetwine said White’s office did not have details about “the nature of their systems being compromised,” but said DCHA staff did not have access to files.
“This has also affected our ability to handle constituent requests considering how closely we work with DCHA,” Sweetwine said.
Sweetwine said White’s office was told that DCHA would pause online activities while it worked to resolve the issues internally. DCHA had not provided a restoration timeline, she said.
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DCHA and White’s office encouraged residents to seek immediate help through walk-ins at DCHA customer service centers or by phone. Social media posts from DCHA and White’s office said DCHA offices and customer service centers remained open.
Sweetwine said DCHA Director Keith Pettigrew anticipated that payments would still be made to landlords as scheduled July 1.
DCHA had not publicly confirmed whether ransomware was involved or whether a ransom demand was made. DysruptionHub found no public claims of responsibility as of publication.
DCHA did not immediately respond to requests for more information Monday. The agency had not said whether law enforcement, outside cybersecurity specialists or District technology officials were assisting with the response. The agency also had not said whether any personal information was accessed.
