Small town in West Virginia suffers cyberattack

A cyberattack on the municipality of Beckley, West Virginia, caused a security breach within the city’s computer network on Thursday, the city said in a Facebook post.

In the social media statement, the city said it’s still working to identify what data has been affected and how much of an impact that the incident has had on its system, which helps govern a population of roughly 17,000 people. Officials have not declared if it’s a ransomware attack or which group is behind the incident.

“We are working diligently to investigate the source of the incident, confirm the incident’s full scope and impact, and identify whether data may be impacted,” the statement reads.

Beckley Mayor Rob Rappold confirmed the cyberattack to a local news station but did not provide a timeline for when systems will be restored.

The cyberattack is one of the first against local governments in 2024, following a year full of cyberattacks targeting all levels of government, including many local governments across the U.S.

The personally identifiable information stored by local governments — including addresses, driver’s license numbers, forms of payment and Social Security numbers — makes local governments attractive targets. Their information technology teams are also understaffed when compared to larger cities or state governments.