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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowCarmel’s official city website was restored online Friday evening while officials investigated a hacking incident that prompted them to take down the website for most of the day.
“Changes have been made to avoid a similar disruption in the future,” city spokesman Dan McFeely said in a terse media statement Friday evening.
The city said its information technology department discovered shortly after 8 a.m. Friday that carmel.in.gov had been been hit by hackers. The city immediately took down the website.
“The investigation into how this happened is still ongoing,” McFeely said Friday afternoon. “However, we want to clarify that there was no private information compromised. Carmel’s city website only contains public information. Transactions such as paying a city utility bill are done on third-party websites, which were not impacted by today’s disruption.”
City services remained open Friday. Those who needed specific services were asked to call that department or the main line into City Hall.
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Number 1 City . Number 365 website.
The city should immediately hire a cyber security contractor to make sure the best practices are being used in cyber security. Automatic operating system updates on all employee devices. Password changes every 30-90 days + a transition away from passcodes to passphrases. Two factor authentication for those with the highest levels of access to sensitive processes and data. A mandatory webinar, that requires passing a quiz, so every individual knows what they can do to secure their devices and how to detect online threats.