Pensacola disconnects city network after cyberattack

The city government of Pensacola, Fla., on Monday announced that it had been hit by a cyberattack that affected many city services, including online payments and city government emails. 

The city wrote in a Facebook post that it had “disconnected much of our city network until the issue can be resolved,” noting that the city’s Information Technology Department was “working diligently to resolve the issue.”

According to Pensacola officials, other services negatively affected by the cyberattack included city phones, the 311 customer service line and online payments for Pensacola Energy and the City of Pensacola Sanitation Services. 

The city noted that no emergency services were affected and that they continued to operate normally. 

“Please note that the city remains operational despite the cyber incident,” the city wrote. “We will continue to provide services as we are able to, and we want to emphasize that 911 is NOT impacted.” 

The Pensacola News Journal reported that Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson (R) said during a press conference on Monday that the cyberattack began over the past weekend. Robinson noted that it was still unknown whether it was linked to the fatal shooting that took place at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola late last week. 

The FBI Jacksonville field office tweeted on Monday that the city had informed them of the cyberattack and that the FBI was “providing resources to respond.”

The attack on Pensacola comes in the wake of cyberattacks on other U.S. cities and government entities, including attacks on the governments of Baltimore and Atlanta over the past year, on almost two dozen small Texas towns and on multiple Louisiana state agencies.