Cyber Incident

Background 

On February 25, 2025, the City of Fort St. John discovered that an unauthorized third party accessed a portion of our network, encrypting certain data. In response, we immediately engaged leading cybersecurity experts to assist with containment, remediation, and to conduct a forensic investigation. While the investigation will take some time to complete, our priority remains protecting and securing information in our care and ensuring that operations are restored as quickly and securely as possible.   

We can confirm that no critical systems, such as water, wastewater treatment, or emergency response, were impacted. 

Impacted Services

Status as of March 12, 2025:   

Incident Investigation 

During the initial stages of the forensic investigation, we uncovered evidence to suggest that the unauthorized third party took a small subset of our data during the incident. We can confirm that no data was lost due to the incident.

The subset of stolen data equates to less than 1% of our files and were primarily working documents of select City departments. Our HR and Financial systems were not included in this set of data. We continue working with our legal team and relevant authorities to review the impacted files for sensitive personal information. If required, we will follow all protocols required to notify those impacted; however, as of now, we are not expecting personal information to be found in the data.

Further, while we can confirm that this incident was a ransomware attack, we didn't provide any payment to the unauthorized third party.

As the investigation and response to the incident is ongoing, we must be sensitive to what information is shared. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

What is the City doing to prevent this from happening again? 

Once services have been restored, we will conduct a comprehensive analysis to determine the cause of the incident, identify impacts, and implement measures to strengthen the system to prevent future occurrences.  

What authorities have been contacted? 

The City has notified the RCMP and is working with them regarding this incident. Additionally, we are working with the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia as we review and validate the subset of data taken by the unauthorized third party.  
 

Is there anything residents should do to protect themselves? 

There are no specific actions required at this time. However, as cyber incidents increase worldwide, residents should remain cautious against potential scams or suspicious activity and report concerns to the appropriate authorities.