COLUMBUS, Ohio — In August, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther told 10TV he hopes that all systems for the city of Columbus will be restored in “next month or two" after the city was hit by a cyberattack over the summer.
On Wednesday, 10TV caught up with the mayor to check in on that timeline.
This week, the head of IT for the city of Columbus told city council 71% of all systems have now been fully restored.
“We are going to keep working on it every day. I think what is most important is that the most critical systems have been restored, they were our top priority, get them back as quickly as possible.” Ginther said.
The mayor said those critical systems are things like police, and fire databases. But what about the timeline for all the other systems?
“We are working on it every day and will do everything in our power to get them restored as quickly and as safely as possible,” said Ginther.
10TV asked what systems still need to be restored. A spokesperson for the mayor said that information cannot be provided because of security reasons. When it comes to the investigation into the hack, the mayor said they hope to get answers and insight.
“Our hope is later this year, beginning of next year. These things take time,” he said. “Once this investigation is complete, we will take more time here. Hoping that (the results of the investigation) will inform a blueprint for what else we need to be doing for cyber security."
The city of Columbus has spent $12 million on cyber security. But, the mayor said more will have to be done.
“We are going to have to invest in cybersecurity in ways we haven't historically. (We have) to do our best to protect employees and residents of Columbus,” Ginther said.
The city of Columbus is offering two years of free credit monitoring for anyone who is affected by the cyberattack.