Winston-Salem city computers were taken offline after “abnormality.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are investigating a recent disruption in city computers used by the government of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the Assistant City Manager said.
Residents of Winston-Salem were unable to pay city bills online after officials shut down the city’s network. This was done out of caution after officials discovered an unknown abnormality within the system, prompting a federal investigation to identify its source.
“All we know is that there was an abnormality that occurred within our network and because of that we initiated an investigation,” the city manager said. “Really need folks to continue being patient with us and know that we’re still investigating what happened. We’re in the process of restoring our access to the internet and reestablishing our business systems… Hopefully, we’ll have enough progress that we’ll be able to resume some of those functions that we can’t provide right now like the online bill payment.”
The city said service will not be interrupted, nor will there be late fees or penalties for those who are unable to make payments during the outage. Officials do not believe any personal information was compromised.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For FBI and DHS investigators as they assist in seeking the source of the disruption in the city’s computer systems.
- For state and local leaders as they work to bring the cyber infrastructure back online.
Sources: Fox8, MSN, WFMY, WXII12
