Public safety and essential services in North St. Paul are still running normally after a recent cyberattack targeted the city’s Police Department. City officials say the breach was caused by a phishing email that tricked an employee into giving access to one of the department’s business email accounts.
According to city spokesperson Ava Griemert, the attack was limited to just that one account and did not spread to other systems. She emphasized that there is no indication the breach affected other departments or the wider city network.
The city responded quickly to the incident. On Monday, the City Council approved hiring a law firm to provide legal guidance and brought in a cybersecurity company to investigate the attack. This move came after officials confirmed the situation involved what is known as a “business email compromise,” a common type of cyberattack where hackers gain access to business email systems, often to steal sensitive data or commit fraud.
“The good news is that our IT team acted fast,” the city shared in a statement on Tuesday. “They spotted the unauthorized access, shut it down, and stopped it from spreading.”
Detective Peyton Fleming also reassured the public that this appears to be an isolated incident. “All public safety operations and essential services are running as usual,” he said. “People should still feel confident calling 911 or using our nonemergency phone line.”
While day-to-day operations have not been disrupted, some internal systems and online services have been affected. The city has not shared exactly which systems were impacted, but they stress that there’s no interruption in services delivered to the public.
Fleming noted, “We’re still providing the same level of service. Our community should not notice any difference.”
However, there are concerns that the attack may have led to the exposure of some personal or health-related information. In a letter dated July 23, the city’s legal team, McDonald Hopkins, informed City Manager Brian Frandle of the possible data breach.
If any residents’ information was compromised, they will be contacted directly by the city, Griemert said.
To help manage the situation and understand the full extent of the breach, the city is now working closely with cybersecurity experts, legal advisors, and law enforcement agencies at the local, state, and federal levels.
“Our team is fully engaged and doing everything possible to investigate the incident, protect our systems, and ensure this doesn’t happen again,” said Fleming.
This cyberattack on North St. Paul comes at a time when another nearby city, St. Paul, is still recovering from a separate and more severe cyber incident that recently forced several of its services offline.
As of now, North St. Paul officials remain optimistic that the attack was caught early and contained quickly. Their priority moving forward is to protect sensitive data, support anyone affected, and strengthen their systems to prevent future attacks.
