New Orleans Declares 'State of Emergency' After Cyberattack

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The city of New Orleans was declared a state of emergency on Friday following a series of widespread cyberattacks, authorities said.

According to New Orleans' "NOLA Ready" emergency alert Twitter account, which normally alerts residents about hurricane preparedness, authorities detected "suspicious activity" on the city's networks and that officials were working with "cybersecurity resources" from the FBI, Secret Service and National Guard. Emergency services, such as 911 and the fire department were not affected by the attacks.

The cyberattacks forced New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell to declare a state of emergency after technician investigators detected a "cybersecurity incident." The city's IT department powered down some of the city's servers and computers as a precaution, the "NOLA Ready" Twitter account said.

Mayor Cantrell told reporters at a press conference Friday morning that ransomware was detected on the city's networks, but no ransom had been demanded in the cyberattack. The personal information of city employees was not affected during the cyberattack.

The city's 911 system was not affected by the attack, Cantrell said.

The cyberattack comes after another more recent attack in November and July which involved ransomware that crippled phones and encrypted data at several school districts in Louisiana, prompting the governor to issue a state of emergency for those incidents.

Photo: Getty Images


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