KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s a courthouse shut-down in Kansas City as some municipal services were dark on Monday due to a computer outage.
Although city officials have not confirmed this is the result of a cyberattack, KCMO’s response has been similar to others we’ve seen in the recent past.
Jackson County, KC Scout Cameras, and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County all fell victim to hackers during the past two years.
In Kansas City, the biggest shift FOX4 witnessed was the municipal courthouse making last-minute cancellations to everything on the docket. A courthouse spokesperson said that even their email is down – and the public has not been given a timeline on a fix.
Even kcmo.gov – the city’s website – is down.
This is the most recent statement issued by an official spokesperson:
“Out of an abundance of caution this weekend the city temporarily shut off some access to our network and some systems while we continue to investigate and ensure there are no issues.”
“Users may experience intermittent outages and we appreciate everyone’s patience.”
“Municipal Court will remain closed Tuesday, May 7, and the City will provide a grace period for anyone having difficulty making payments through City systems,” the statement concludes.
The words are little consolation for people trying to go to court.
“Coming down here with a baby, I mean, is that easy? Three months?” FOX4’s Jacob Kittilstad asked one man with a baby stroller.
“No, because as I said I have no car, so I have to take the bus and then walk all the way over here. And now they’re telling me that this is cancelled and I have to walk all the way back for another bus,” Tony Castro said.
“Currently the whole place is down. There’s nobody in the building besides a few security officers and there’s nothing that anybody can really do,” another man turned away from the courthouse, Adam Cunningham, said.
Cybersecurity expert Felix Simmons with GuidePoint Security said that if this is an attack the city is likely working on their security posture.
“These attacks this year are coming from prior experience bad actor groups. So these threat organizations have started maturing, they’re maturing their attacks and they’re building off of successes of the past. So there’s money involved, there’s a decent amount, and it’s only adding fuel to the fire,” Simmons said.
FOX4 also received confirmation through an email from the emergency workers union that time-keeping and overtime systems currently aren’t working right.
FOX4 also saw some city committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday have been cancelled – but have been unable to confirm if it’s related to the computer issue.
There’s no word on when the municipal court will re-open for business aside from knowing it won’t be Tuesday.
