A look at Augusta’s IT department amid cyber-attack

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The city of Augusta is still trying to fix the effects of the cyber-attack.

We are taking a closer look at their IT departments and their preparedness efforts.

A breach of technology has trickled down most Augusta departments, including the Charles Webster Detention Center, where the sheriff, the IT Department, and a judge executed a plan to release some offenders with minor charges late last week.

The IT Department in Augusta supports more than 60 different Augusta departments.

EARLIER COVERAGE:

• How long will cyberattack keep city of Augusta paralyzed?
• City struggles with cyberattack as hackers brag about breach
• Mayor denies $50M ransom demand amid city computer outage
• ‘Unauthorized access’ blamed for cyber-crisis that’s crippled city computers

Their track record boasts high completion rates and improving service times, but that is all self-reported.

By their count, they’ve completed at least 20,000 support tasks in the past three years with work orders for help being completed on average in less than a day and a half.

This year their budget jumped to $7.6 million, almost half a million more than in 2022.

Commissioners also approved $30,000 for penetration and vulnerability testing.

Just the week before the cyber-attack, Augusta commissioners approved a $655,000 upgrade of all obsolete computers, routers, storage, and more that typically takes place every five to eight years.

“I want to give the people the confidence and knowing that we are working as diligently and as expediently as we can to get to the bottom of this so we can come back to 100 percent for functionality,” said Mayor Garnett Johnson.

Johnson has confirmed a special meeting will take place either Thursday or Friday to give another update on this cyber-attack.

Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.