“Watch what you respond to,” cautioned Fairfield Mayor Roy Hill, during last week’s City Council Meeting.
According to Mayor Hill, one of his businesses dodged an expensive bullet about six weeks ago, when they received confirmation from a local bank concerning a large money transfer that had not been authorized.
Apparently, hackers used their system to send an emailed request that appeared legit.
Thankfully, the mistake was caught within 30 minutes.
“We got it back,” says Mayor Hill, although it took 72 hours “of total panic” before the issue was completely resolved.
Hill advises citizens to be careful with emails and, if the wording sounds off, to call the sender to confirm.
Hacking is a pervasive problem, and has made the news several times this year.
On April 6, the City of Dallas had all 156 of their emergency sirens go off during a two-hour period, beginning around 11:30 p.m. As a result, their dispatch center was inundated with four times the normal amount of calls. Hacking was identified as the culprit.
Earlier this year, Northside ISD in San Antonio announced a major breach in their system caused by hacking into teacher emails. At risk may be personal information such as names, addresses and dates of birth.
Approved by Fairfield Council during this meeting include the following:
–Resolution regarding rate change for Oncor Electric.
–Annual contract with Freestone County Fair Association.
–Electrical work to rodeo grounds.
Tabled for future meetings:
–Municipal Telecommunications right-of-way access line rates.
–Amendment to Water Ordinance regarding water rates.
Correction: This front page article incorrectly identified the hackers as attacking accounts from the City of Fairfield. While the subject was discussed during a City Council meeting, it was NOT an event that affected the City, in any way.
