A ransomware attack on 5 May 2024 led the City of Wichita, Kansas to shut down portions of its network to stop the malware spreading. Online payment systems for utility bills and public transport tickets were among the services affected.
Residents Cannot Go Elsewhere
A customer of a breached retailer can shop somewhere else for a week. A resident who needs to pay a water bill to their city has one counterparty and no alternative.
That is what distinguishes municipal outages in this file set. The affected population is defined by geography rather than by choice, and it includes the people least able to absorb a payment system being unavailable.
Shutting Down Is The Decision
Wichita disconnected deliberately, converting an uncertain compromise into a certain outage. It is usually the right call and it is never free.
Graded medium: no operation was named at the time, no entry route was published, and no figure for affected residents or duration was released.
Compiled from the city’s statements and public reporting, listed below. No entry route was published and no figure for affected residents or downtime was released. Corrections: corrections@forensicpost.com.
- City of Wichita shuts down network after ransomware attackBleepingComputer