Statement: Forensic investigation is underway for Oxford County IT incident

Last week, we shared that Oxford County was responding to a technical incident relating to its information system. We shared this update ahead of full information to be as open as possible, as early as possible, with residents and partners. 

At this stage, we can confirm the following.

• Oxford County was subject to a cybersecurity incident. As soon as Information Technology (IT) staff identified unexpected activity, they worked to prevent any further unauthorized activity.
• The County engaged third-party cybersecurity experts to assist with containment, remediation, and to conduct a forensic investigation.
• In addition to the measures we had in place before this incident, we are working with our third-party cybersecurity experts to introduce additional security measures as needed to mitigate potential future harm to our system.
• At this time, all systems are operating normally and there are no changes to the services we provide to the public.

Our focus from the start has been, and will continue to be, determining whether and to what extent information within our systems may be compromised. 

We operate with a high degree of caution and awareness when it comes to cybersecurity. It is disappointing for us to share this news, and we acknowledge the concern it may cause for our residents and partners. 

Municipalities are frequent targets of cyberattacks and, despite our best efforts, we are now in this situation. Please be aware that our full response to this incident may occur over months, not days. Further, as with any type of investigation, there will be details we cannot publicly share without compromising the investigation and our response to it. 

We ask for your patience as we continue to respond to this incident. We are committed to providing you with as much information as we can, as we are able.

Issued by:

Marcus Ryan

Warden, Oxford County