The city of Columbia said it was the victim of a ransomware attack this month that impacted some public services and involved sensitive city data.
The State Law Enforcement Division was asked by city officials to investigate the attack that was discovered Oct. 20.
"The City is taking this incident extremely seriously and is working methodically with SLED and cybersecurity specialists to contain the attack, identify affected systems, assess the extent of any information that may have been accessed or compromised, and restore impacted services," the city said in an Oct. 23 update to its website.
The release said the city's information technology department immediately contacted SLED after discovering the incident last week and took impacted services offline as a precaution.
Beyond SLED, the city said it also reached out to third-party cybersecurity professionals to help the city respond to the threat.
Some platforms and online services still remain unavailable, the city said, including MyColaSC, Animal Services, Parks and Recreation reservations and the Geographic Information Systems.
The city said residents can still call 803-545-3300 to report any concerns or ask for help with issues like potholes, downed trees, park equipment problems, broken streetlights and other local service requests.
Public safety and utility services still remain operational.
That includes the Columbia Police Department and the fire department, 911 communications, Columbia Water and online payment options.
The city did not say when the affected services might return online.
