The city of Frisco has taken its emergency notification system offline following a cybersecurity incident involving CodeRED, the third-party platform it uses to deliver urgent public alerts.
The move comes in response to a confirmed data breach involving the legacy version of CodeRED, a cloud-based system operated by OnSolve and widely used by local governments for emergency communications. The platform enabled geotargeted alerts via voice, text, email and app notifications for incidents such as severe weather, missing persons and boil-water notices.
According to the vendor, the compromised data set may include users' names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and passwords. Residents are advised to change passwords on any accounts where they may have reused credentials from the compromised system.
City officials said they were notified of the breach on Nov. 24 and have since made several attempts to contact CodeRED to obtain a list of affected registrants but have yet to receive a response. As a precaution, Frisco removed the CodeRED enrollment link from its website and is directing residents to its official social media channels for emergency updates.
The breach is part of a wider cybersecurity event impacting jurisdictions nationwide. OnSolve confirmed that a “targeted attack by an organized cybercriminal group” had resulted in data being published online. A forensic investigation revealed that the damage was limited to the CodeRED environment. The company has since decommissioned the platform and is accelerating customer transitions to its updated system.
The group claiming responsibility for the attack, known as INC Ransom, alleges it breached the system in early November and deployed ransomware by mid-month. No ransom was paid, and law enforcement has been notified.
As Frisco works to address the fallout, officials are urging anyone who used the same password for CodeRED and other accounts to change those credentials immediately. The city plans to restore the emergency alert system link once the platform is verified as secure and fully operational.
Frisco Disables Emergency Alert System After Cyber Attack
What to Know:
- Frisco’s CodeRED alert system has been taken offline following a cyber attack that exposed user data.
- City officials are advising residents to change reused passwords immediately, as the compromised data may impact other personal or business accounts.
- The breach is part of a wider cybersecurity event impacting jurisdictions nationwide.
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