Most Augusta services back online after 4 weeks

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – New details about recovery efforts for Augusta after the cyber-attack.

Most of the network is back online except for three major systems: geographic information systems, the enterprise asset management system that depends upon GIS, and the solid-waste operations system.

For the time, Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson is giving new details about the restoration process.

“So, people that are going out to our landfill as I mentioned, that is a remote location. We’re still working through the process there. Things are going well; we don’t see any problem with coming back online. But as you know, just getting all of our servers and everything back online just takes time. And we’re doing it in a very diligent way to make sure that we don’t incur any additional unauthorized access to our system. None has occurred again since our reboot. So that is good news,” said Mayor Johnson.

Nearly four weeks down and now most services are finally getting back up.

EARLIER COVERAGE:

After living in Augusta for 24 years, Michael Dobbs was used to paying his utility bill one way but for a few weeks, he and other customers had to step out of the norm.

“The lady told me that the assistance was down and that I could pay the bill at the kiosk,” said Dobbs.

On Tuesday, animal services, probate court, and the tax commissioner’s office say they’re able to serve the community.

T. Chris Johnson, a tax commissioner, said: “Actually, as of yesterday, we were fully operational. We had not completed all of our tests, but today everything is complete. So, we’re back to your normal, tax commission’s office ready to process.”

Mayor Johnson says it’s all possible thanks to a global system reset and wi-fi restoration, and while those steps were successful the work is far from over.

“We’re starting to restore our departments back to functionality, are we 100% there? Not necessarily. We still have some on-site departments that are still experiencing some issues,” said Mayor Johnson.

Even though not all departments are fully restored, people in Augusta are just happy to continue paying their bills the way they please.

Dobbs said: “I really like to pay my bills in person.”

Mayor Johnson would not comment on any questions about how the city’s insurance policy plays a role in this situation, but he did confirm on Tuesday that “there is an insurance policy in place.” But he could not go into specifics about that policy.

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