North Miami councilman talks about cyber attack: ‘City is being extorted’

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – North Miami Councilman Scott Galvin addressed the city’s recent cyber attack on Sunday during This Week In South Florida.

There was an air of mystery after City Hall closed from Aug. 5 to Aug. 9. There was a computer network system security breach. A ransomware attack included an anonymous message claiming none of it was personal.

The city’s Information Technology team notified local and federal authorities with the support of the city’s administration. Galvin said IT has been working hard and focused on installing antipiracy software.

“They are going computer by computer, department by department,” Galvin said.

The city’s site announced the 911 call center was operational and the hack did not impact early voting for the primary elections. There were other issues with payments and online services.

Galvin said it remained unclear what data was compromised, but the ransom demand for city data was clear.

“The city is being extorted,” Galvin said.

Florida law prohibits cities from making ransom payments. Galvin said the insurance company that services the city had yet to communicate with them and the issue had yet to come up to the city council.

“I have asked to see the actual policy. I haven’t been provided a copy of it yet,” Galvin said adding he hopes to get it on Monday.

Before the disruption of operations, the city’s mayor suffered a breach himself. North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme, campaigning for re-election in November, told Axios on Wednesday that hackers had accessed his Gmail accounts and had information about his passport, bank accounts, credit cards, and even private images — that were not nudes.

“That’s something that I have never done, take nude pictures of me,” Desulme told Axios.

The city’s latest update:

• “Application status updates for those previously submitted online are unavailable.”

• The Neighborhood Services Department welcomes walk-in visits, phone service, and e-mail at nsd@northmiamifl.gov, but updates about historic information about properties were unavailable.

• Parks and Recreation was only accepting cash payments in-person at the community center at 1600 NE 126 St.

• Passport services through the city clerk were postponed

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