The City and the Cyber Attack

The City of Hamilton fell victim to a cyber attack that damaged many of our crucial systems. We decided to probe into the nature of the attack and what the city has done as a result. Here are our questions with Cyrus Tehrani, Chief Information Officer (interim), City of Hamilton 

1 It is our understanding that the city became aware of a cyberattack it fell victim to in February 2024. Could you describe the scope of this attack? Where were the greatest disruptions, and did the attack affect both computer and phone systems?

The City of Hamilton became aware on the evening of Sunday, February 25, 2024 that it was impacted by a cybersecurity incident that compromised many of our IT systems, including disruptions to our phone system. A dedicated team of City staff and external experts took swift action to investigate, protect our systems, and minimize the impact on the community and facilitate recovery. The City has confirmed that it was a ransomware attack.

2.While cybercrime is a grave and reprehensible issue, many Hamiltonians may be wondering why it has taken so long to fully restore the impacted systems. Were there adequate backup systems, imaging, redundancy, and other industry best practices in place to protect against such an attack? If these safeguards were in place, how did they fail? If not, what steps are being taken to strengthen the city’s systems moving forward? To clarify, we are not asking for specific details that could compromise the city’s security efforts, but rather, in a broader sense, what industry best practices or new measures are being introduced as a result of this breach?

The City has been taking a thoughtful and intentional approach to its response, focused on best meeting the needs of the community. Despite the incident, the City has continued to deliver its critical programs and services.

As the City continues to recover and build back better, it is identifying opportunities to improve and strengthen systems and infrastructure and protect against future cyber incidents. The City is moving forward with application replacement and received Council approval for both funding and staffing increases to continue to advance the City’s Cyber resiliency as part of building back better.

The City has cybersecurity measures in place, which are updated regularly. Unfortunately, cybersecurity incidents are becoming more common globally. While the City continues to strengthen the security of its IT systems to the ever-changing landscape of cybersecurity threats, no security measure will make a

With Clr. John-Paul Danko

Enjoy our chat with Councillor John-Paul Danko. Tthank-you John-Paul for engaging with Hamiltonians on The Hamiltonian!

1. What motivated your decision to run as the Liberal candidate for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, and why do you believe this is the right move for you at this stage in your career?

I am excited for the opportunity to leverage the experience I have gained in my years as a professional structural engineer and city councillor for Hamilton as an MP. I have a deep understanding of the issues, challenges and opportunities that our fantastic city faces. I know how transformational federal funding has been on so many files. I want to bring my deep understanding of our Ambitious City and its residents, combined with my municipal political experience to advocate for Hamilton’s interests on Parliament Hill.

2. Some critics, as seen in a recent letter to the editor in the Hamilton Spectator, have suggested that your decision to leave your City Councillor position could be seen as an opportunistic move. They argue that this allows you to explore the possibility of a new role while not permanently vacating your current position, should you not succeed in the election. Additionally, there are concerns about the potential costs of a by-election. How do you respond to these criticisms?

You can never guess when a federal election will be called. I felt that, given my professional and political