St. Paul continues to grapple with ransomware attack

The City of St. Paul says the cause of the cyberattack that has impeded the city's internal internet is due to a ransomware attack.

In a statement released this weekend, the city says it has refused to pay the ransom and that it hasn't found evidence that any data was taken.

St. Paul officials said the city decided to shut down the network as a best practice to isolate and shut out those responsible for the ransomware attack.

The city has been offline for more than two weeks as officials grapple with the attack. The attack began in the early morning hours of July 25.

Up next for St. Paul: resetting the passwords of all 3,500 city employees, a process they say will take three days. The city says 911 response will not be impacted, and the city facilities will remain open and operational, as well as services will continue.

They city is paying a private firm and working with experts from the Minnesota National Guard, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Department of Public Safety, the Office of Minnesota Information Technology on the problem.

The FBI is leading a criminal investigation in parallel to the city’s response.