Minnesota National Guard activated, state of emergency declared after cyber attack against St. Paul

Local, state and federal agencies are investigating a cyber attack against the City of St. Paul.

Governor Tim Walz on Tuesday announced he has activated the Minnesota National Guard to assist in the response to the attack.

According to the Governor’s Office, “the magnitude and complexity of the cybersecurity incident have exceeded the city’s response capacity.” The city had requested support from the National Guard.

At a news conference on Tuesday, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said the City has declared a local state of emergency to address the attack. The City also retained two national firms and activated its emergency operations center.

“This wasn’t a system glitch or technical error,” Carter said. “This was a deliberate, coordinated, digital attack, carried out by a sophisticated external actor, intentionally and criminally targeting our city’s information infrastructure.”

“We are the victims of a serious crime,” said Jaime Wascalus, director of the city’s Office of Technology and Communications. “In response, we have mobilized local, state and federal partners to support our investigation and response efforts. This incident remains active and we continue to assess it in real time.”

Cybersecurity protection systems detected suspicious activity on the City’s network on Friday, Carter said.

Several agencies are investigating the attack, including the FBI.

The City, on Monday, fully shut down its information systems “as a defensive measure to contain the threat.”

The disruptions are affecting access to online services and internal systems. The city added that some of its services may be temporarily delayed or unavailable. Carter added that 911 services are working as normal, though there have been “back-end challenges.”

Other impacts include loss of wifi in city buildings, disruptions to the libraries’ collections management systems and suspension of network access for several internal applications.