COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nearly 3,000 incident reports from the Columbus Division of Fire are now on the dark web after a citywide cyberattack, a cybersecurity expert told 10TV.
This information comes a month after the city learned of the attack and nearly a week after officials learned that private citizens' personal information could be compromised.
Connor Goodwolf, a cybersecurity expert, said he was able to access the Columbus Division of Fire database on the dark web. The database includes nearly 3,000 incident reports from the last nine years.
“Address, incident number, date, type..." Goodwolf said. "The property description of a vehicle, estimated loss, address location, owner information. Sometimes social security numbers are listed in this area, vehicle information is here, insurance if known."
Goodwolf said when people call the police or fire department, they never expect that information to become public. But, now it is available on the dark web. He said he has reached out to the city but hasn’t heard back from the mayor’s office.
Goodwolf also walked 10TV through a city database that scans the IDs of visitors entering city buildings. Your data could be on the dark web if you visited City Hall, 77 N. Front St., 111 N. Front St. or the Beacon building since 2006.
Goodwolf said there were 484,448 scans or entries.
Mayor Andrew Ginther acknowledged the breach and promised to be more transparent and forthcoming with verifiable information. He held a press conference on Saturday saying that the buck stopped with him.
The city of Columbus began offering Columbus residents or non-residents who have shared information with the city or municipal court free credit monitoring for up to two years. Goodwolf said he is glad the city is taking that step.
RELATED: City of Columbus now offering free credit monitoring to all citizens impacted by cyberattack
A spokesperson for Ginther's office said, “During Saturday’s press conference, Mayor Ginther said we will find additional data sources that were stolen and published to the dark web. Our advice to residents remains the same – if you’re worried, enroll in Experian credit protection. This two-year service is available to all Columbus residents, including those who have shared their information with the city in any way."