New Britain Common Council Approves Cybersecurity Upgrade After Ransomware Attack Following a January ransomware attack that disrupted city operations, New Britain’s Common Council approved funding for a new cybersecurity system at its April 8 meeting. The move comes as part of broader efforts to restore and strengthen the city’s information technology infrastructure under the Sanchez administration. The council authorized a three-year agreement with Cowbell MDR (Managed Detection and Response) to provide continuous monitoring, threat detection, and response capabilities across endpoint, identity, and cloud applications for City Hall systems. The service includes 24/7 visibility into potential threats and support to investigate and contain security issues before they escalate. According to the resolution, the Cowbell MDR system aligns with security improvements required by the city’s cyber insurance coverage and includes a $25,000 breach response fund to help address future incidents. The annual cost of the service is $66,000. Officials confirmed that even as the January 28 attack disrupted phones and computers across departments, emergency services were not impaired. The city is providing credit monitoring and identity protection services for employees potentially affected by the breach, though officials stated there is no indication of widespread exposure of resident data. Mayor Bobby Sanchez emphasized that the city responded quickly to contain the damage and is working closely with state and federal partners, law enforcement, and outside cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident and restore systems safely and securely. In addition to the cybersecurity measures, the council approved approximately $2 million in state aid and city funds for the annual road paving program this summer. Contracts were awarded to Tilcon Inc. And Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming for materials, milling, and paving work based on a pavement rating system that determines which streets are repaired each year. The council also passed a resolution recognizing Earth Day, to be observed on Wednesday, highlighting the city’s ongoing environmental protection and sustainability efforts.
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