Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther discloses how much money city has spent on cyberattack
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- More is being revealed about just how much the data breach is costing the City of Columbus.
NBC4 Investigates was the first to tell Columbus residents that private citizens' personal information had been compromised after Mayor Andrew Ginther said the data posted on the dark web lacked value.
The city has already spent millions of dollars on the issue and is planning to spend millions more. Ginther said the city has spent $12 million on cybersecurity over the last five years. After everything that's gone on since July, that number will continue to go up.
Watch: Mayor Andrew Ginther on Columbus ransomware attack
On Friday, the mayor's office released a letter updating the community on the situation. It explained when the city found out about the cyberattack, $4 million went toward fixing the city's systems and the subsequent investigation. The fallout of the cyberattack has since cost Columbus even more.
At the upcoming city council meeting on Monday, the Columbus Department of Technology will request $3 million in new funding to cover costs related to the attack through the rest of 2024.
As for how this all happened, Ginther said the investigation is ongoing.
"This investigation is going to take a while," Ginther said. "We're continuing to work with our team to make sure that when we share that information that it is definitive and we have as much accurate and complete and comprehensive information to offer."
As NBC4 Investigates reported Thursday, some children have had their information compromised in the breach.
"We encourage, we have the ability to sign up minors for this credit monitoring service as well," Ginther said. "It's something I take very seriously as a dad and a leader of this city. I would remind folks these cyberattacks are pretty much the new normal for cities. There are 145 cities that have dealt with cyberattacks just in the last 18 to 24 months."
The city also shared an update on how its recovery from the attack is going. 72% of the city's 441 technology systems are fully restored, with 5% of them partially restored.