The City of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada published cybersecurity incident updates stating that municipal IT systems had been hit by a cyberattack [1]. Subsequent municipal updates confirmed that the incident was a ransomware attack that disrupted phone lines, email, and multiple citizen services [1]. The city also provided statements regarding whether a ransom was paid and whether data was exfiltrated, with specific details subject to the official municipal website [1].
Backfill: this event became public on Feb 25, 2024 and we added it on Nov 8, 2026. It is not a new event.
HighMonitoringBackfillOfficially confirmed
City of Hamilton, Canada Discloses Ransomware Attack on Municipal Systems
1 min read
- Disclosed
- Feb 25, 2024
- Occurred
- Feb 25, 2024
- Published
- Nov 8, 2026
- Last updated
- Nov 7, 2026
- CVSS basis
- Our assessment
- Attack vector
- Actor type
- Motivation
On this page
30-second summary
What happened
Who is affected
Industries mainly affected: Government
What to do nowOur advice
The city also provided statements regarding whether a ransom was paid and whether data was exfiltrated, with specific details subject to the official municipal website [1].
Timeline
- Public disclosure of incident[1]
Technical details
Source-Supported Details
The City of Hamilton's official website documented the February 2024 cybersecurity incident and provided details on the attack and recovery efforts in subsequent updates. This advisory is based on official municipal announcements [1].
Source excerpt for verification: "The cybercriminals launched a complex ransomware attack through an external internet-facing server. After covertly studying the City’s systems, they encrypted systems and data to render them unusable and attempted – but failed – to destroy all the City’s backups." [1].
References
Official / primary1
- [1]
“The cybercriminals launched a complex ransomware attack through an external internet-facing server. After covertly studying the City’s systems, they encrypted systems and data to render them unusable and attempted – but failed – to destroy all the City’s backups.”
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