Jackson hit with computer virus just as city hosts first technology summit
"This doesn't appear to be a situation where someone has made a demand for money," City Council President Melvin Priester Jr. said.
Jackson hit with computer virus just as city hosts first technology summit "This doesn't appear to be a situation where someone has made a demand for money," City Council President Melvin Priester Jr. said. Check out this story on clarionledger.com: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2019/04/16/computer-virus-first-ever-tech-expo-jackson-ms/3483221002/
Justin Vicory, Mississippi Clarion Ledger Published 10:48 a.m. CT April 16, 2019 | Updated 2:09 p.m. CT April 16, 2019
The city of Jackson is taking some bold steps to modernize its computer systems. But security will have to be one of the areas it focuses on.
The city is reeling from a computer virus that has taken out the city's email and — in some cases — deleted files from department servers.
The virus hit the city April 9, said Fredrick Wilson, the city's director of information technology, about a week before the launch of the city's first Tech Jackson summit.
Jackson city officials said on April 16, 2019, that a computer virus has disabled their work email and deleted files from some departments. The virus was detected on April 9. (Photo: Justin Vicory)
The summit is aimed at attracting tech businesses to Jackson. It's being held at the Jackson Convention Complex Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tuesday morning, Wilson deferred questions to Candice Cole, the city's director of communications.
""I'm really busy right now," he said.
City officials said the virus disabled their email accounts and prevented them from reading or sending emails. In some cases, files were deleted from department servers.
City Council President Melvin Priester Jr. said the virus doesn't appear to be a ransomware attack.
"We're still trying to get to the bottom of exactly what it is. But to my knowledge, it's not ransomware. This doesn't appear to be a situation where someone has made a demand for money," he said.
The computer virus attack comes as the city, under the direction of Chief Administrative Officer Robert Blaine, is modernizing its outdated computer network and working to provide all Jackson schools, universities, hospitals and city institutions ultra-high speed broadband internet access. The city is also in the process of streamlining its network to allow city departments to access information independently of one another.
But the transition faces some challenges, Priester said.
"We want to transition from an older system where everyone is working independently to a more nimble, cloud-based system. Part of that change will also include educating our workers on how to properly use the system, such as don't click on suspicious email attachments," he said.
The City Council will talk more about the computer virus at Tuesday night's council meeting.
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Contact Justin Vicory at 769-572-1418 or jvicory@gannett.com. Follow @justinvicory on Twitter.
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