City of Columbia, South Carolina (state capital) says it is responding to a cyberattack that has shut down several city systems, including the MyColaSC resident services platform; the city says police, fire, 911, water and payment systems remain operational, according to The Record (22 Oct)
The city of Columbia, the capital of South Carolina (about 150,000 residents), said it is responding to a cyberattack that has shut down several government systems, according to The Record from Recorded Future News (22 Oct). A city spokesperson told The Record that the city's IT department recently identified suspicious activity and contacted the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), which is now leading the investigation. According to The Record, the affected systems include the MyColaSC platform residents use to pay utility bills, report non-emergency issues and reach other city services, as well as Geographic Information Systems and systems supporting animal services; residents were asked to phone in concerns such as potholes, fallen trees and broken streetlights while MyColaSC is down. A city official told The Record that critical public safety and utility systems remain operational, including the Columbia Police Department, Columbia-Richland Fire Department, 911 communications, Columbia Water systems and the Payment Center, including online payment services. The city has not said what kind of attack it was, and The Record says no hacking group had taken credit for the incident as of Wednesday. No Australian impact. Source: The Record (22 Oct).
- Product
- City of Columbia, South Carolina (US) — municipal IT systems including the MyColaSC resident services platform, GIS and animal services systems
- Versions
- n/a — municipal cyber incident (reported 22 Oct 2026)
- Exploited in Australia?
- unknown
- Patch to
- Columbia residents: use the city's phone lines for non-emergency reports while MyColaSC is down, and be wary of calls, texts or emails about city bills or services that use the outage as a pretext. Councils and utilities: check that resident portals, GIS and back-office systems can be isolated without taking down emergency and payment services.