DETROIT LAKES
— The Becker County Sheriff’s Office has issued an urgent notification regarding a recent nationwide cyberattack and data breach impacting a vendor it uses, the CodeRED emergency notification platform.
This incident has affected numerous agencies nationwide, prompting immediate action to safeguard the community’s emergency communication infrastructure, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
CodeRED, a vital system for disseminating time-sensitive alerts during critical events such as severe weather, public safety threats, and other emergencies, has confirmed the data breach.
The compromised data may include sensitive contact information of CodeRED users, including names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and associated passwords used to establish user profiles for alerts.
Due to the severity of this breach, the Becker County Sheriff’s Office will be transitioning its emergency alert system from CodeRED to the new Crisis24 operating platform. Crisis24 owns the CodeRED platform.
“This migration is being implemented to ensure the highest level of security and reliability for our residents’ emergency notifications,” according to the news release. In light of this transition and the potential exposure of user data, the Becker County Sheriff’s Office strongly advises all residents who previously utilized the CodeRED platform to take the following precautionary measures:
- Password Change: Immediately change any usernames or passwords on other personal or business accounts that are similar to those used for CodeRED profiles.
- Emergency Alert Settings: Verify that emergency alerts are activated within your mobile phone settings to receive Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) and Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) notifications.
- Official sources: Follow the Becker County Sheriff’s Office and your local public safety agencies on Facebook for official updates and emergency information.
- Alert Systems: Maintain multiple avenues for receiving critical alerts, including NOAA Weather Radio and local news outlets.
During this transition period to the Crisis24 platform, partner agencies with emergency alerting capabilities will continue to issue IPAWS and WEAs on behalf of the Becker County Sheriff’s Office to ensure uninterrupted coverage.
CodeRED has confirmed the decommissioning of its affected platform and has reported no evidence that compromised user information has been used for identity theft or fraud at this time.
CodeRED provided the following frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) for the public related to this incident:
1. Is user data affected?
Our provider informed us that data potentially associated with the OnSolve CodeRED platform may be published. Our provider’s investigation suggests that the affected personal information is limited to contact information: name, address, email address, phone numbers and/or associated passwords used to create user profiles for alerts. If users have the same password for any other personal or business accounts, those passwords should be changed immediately.
2. What happened?
Our provider notified us that the OnSolve CodeRED environment was the victim of a targeted cyber-attack by an organized cybercriminal group. The attack damaged the OnSolve CodeRED environment.
Our provider’s investigation indicates that this is an incident strictly contained within the OnSolve CodeRED environment with no contagion beyond. This does not impact any of our systems outside of emergency alerts.
3. Did this impact other systems for the county?
No. Our provider’s forensic analysis indicates that this is an incident strictly contained within the OnSolve CodeRED environment with no contagion beyond. This does not impact any of our systems outside of emergency alerts.
4. What is the new CodeRed system?
Our provider launched a new CodeRed System, which had been in the works. Our provider assures us that the new CodeRED platform resides on a non compromised, separate environment and that they completed a comprehensive security audit and engaged external experts for additional penetration testing and hardening.
5. Does this incident impact the new CodeRed system?
No. Our provider informs us that it resides in a non-compromised, separate environment. It also informed that they completed a comprehensive security audit and engaged external experts for additional penetration testing and hardening.
6. When did this event occur?
Our provider notified us of the cybersecurity incident in November.
7. What is the provider doing to respond to this issue?
The provider informed us that it promptly took steps to secure its systems, launched an investigation, and engaged external cybersecurity experts to assist. The provider decommissioned the OnSolve CodeRED platform and is in the process of moving all customers to its new CodeRED platform.
8. What user information was involved?
The provider is still investigating this matter; however, the provider informs that the affected personal information appears to be limited to contact information: name, address, email address, phone numbers and/or associated passwords used to create user profiles for alerts. If users have the same password for any other personal or business accounts, those passwords should be changed immediately.
9. Does this mean that users are victims of identity theft?
We have no evidence that any user information has been used to carry out identity theft and/or fraud.
10. Why did this happen?
Unfortunately, there have been rising cybersecurity risks and penetrations across many organizations as of late.
“The Becker County Sheriff’s Office is committed to maintaining robust and secure emergency communication systems,” according to the news release. “We appreciate the public’s patience and cooperation as we diligently work to implement the Crisis24 platform and enhance our ability to provide rapid and reliable emergency communications.”
