[BreachExchange] Reading Light Hit By Ransomware Breach, Financial Data Secure

[Destry Winant]

https://patch.com/massachusetts/wilmington/reading-light-hit-ransomware-breach-financial-data-secure

WILMINGTON, MA — The Reading Municipal Light Department was the target
of a ransomware security breach Friday, the utility said Monday.
Customer financial data, like bank accounts and credit card
information, has not been compromised, and the delivery of electric
service was not affected. It was unclear whether other customer
information was affected.

In the wake of the announcement, the Wilmington Board of Selectmen
delayed a decision to extend the town's agreement with the utility.
The authorization would have extended the agreement from 2030 to 2040.
The Board planned to return to the agreement at their March 9 meeting.

An initial version of the utility's announcement said "customer
account information such as name, address, email address and
historical electric usage may have been accessed." This line was taken
out in an updated release. Both versions said there was no costumer
financial data accessed; it is housed in a separate, third-party
system.


"The RMLD IT team is working to assess and isolate the problem and to
ensure that the technology infrastructure is swept of all immediate
threats," the release reads. "RMLD has hired an outside IT consultant.
The RMLD IT team along with the security consultants are working
towards returning to normal business as soon as possible."

Many RMLD services remain active, including the customer service
number for outages and other issues and multiple payment methods
including online payment.

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