West Haven Recovers After Christmas Day Cyberattack
The city of West Haven, Connecticut, is investigating a cyberattack that forced officials to temporarily shut down municipal IT systems on Christmas Day. The Qilin ransomware group, known for targeting organizations across the U.S. and Europe, claimed responsibility for the attack on January 11, according to city officials. Mayor Dorinda Borer confirmed the breach occurred on December 25, disrupting city operations. In response, the city promptly engaged external cybersecurity professionals and shut down its IT systems as a precaution. Thanks to robust backups, the city was able to restore affected systems within days.
City officials stated there is currently no evidence that external data was compromised, though forensic investigations remain ongoing. However, the Qilin ransomware group’s claim of responsibility strongly suggests that some data may have been accessed. Mayor Borer noted that the city is awaiting final reports from its cybersecurity team before sharing additional details. Notably, the city did not publicly disclose the attack until January 14, nearly three weeks after it occurred and only after Qilin went public on January 11. This raises questions about whether the city would have voluntarily informed the public had the attackers not revealed the incident themselves. Further updates are expected as the investigation progresses.