New Orleans government hit with cyberattack
911 system unaffected
The city of New Orleans’ computer systems were hit with a cyberattack on Friday.
Police, firefighters and other personnel in the Big Easy were told to "power off all computers and shutdown cellphones" because of the intrusion, according to WWL-TV, a New Orleans television station. New Orleans Communications Director Beau Tidwell said it occurred about 11 a.m. local time.
"The City of New Orleans is under a cyber attack. Please power off your computers and unplug them immediately. Await further instructions," an internal text message from the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness said, according to WWL-TV.
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Computer systems for the city’s police department and emergency medical services were affected by the hack, though the 911 emergency system was not, Tidwell said, according to WWL-TV. The full extent of the attack wasn't yet known, he said.
The city’s official website wasn't working as of 2 p.m. ET.
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Louisiana was targeted by hackers last month in an attack that damaged 10 percent of the state’s government servers, though no data was lost. The state’s deputy chief information officer, Neal Underwood, said the Office of Motor Vehicles experienced the most significant effects and closed branch locations for a week to fix its computer network.
“I can assure you that none of the actual data in our enterprise was inappropriately accessed,” Underwood told the state's joint House and Senate budget committee.
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Pensacola, Florida, located about 200 miles east of New Orleans, also experienced a cyberattack on its computer systems this week. Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson said almost all communication systems, including phone lines and email, in the town’s city hall went down Monday due to the attack.
The press secretary for New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell did not immediately return a call for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.