Officials at the City of St. Cloud in Florida have confirmed that the city's services have been disrupted by a ransomware attack, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
While the intrusion has impacted many of St. Cloud's departments, operations of the city's Police and Fire Rescue, the Osceola County Tax Collector's Office, and utility providers, as well as its online facility reservation payments and online event registration systems were unaffected, said officials. Such an attack against St. Cloud comes on the heels of cyber incidents confirmed across Florida, including the widespread cyberattack-related phone outages reported by the City of Pensacola and the disclosure of a January ransomware intrusion by Jacksonville Beach. Separate ransomware attacks have also impacted the state's St. Johns River Water Management District and First Judicial Circuit court during the last quarter of 2023. Despite a seemingly downward trend in state and local government-targeted ransomware attacks so far this year, more intrusions are still expected after accounting for delayed attack disclosures, said ransomware expert Allan Liska.
