Columbia, South Carolina, says a cyberattack disrupted several municipal systems, including the online platform residents use for utility bills and non-emergency requests. The city’s IT department identified suspicious activity and contacted the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED, which a city spokesperson said is leading the investigation, according to Recorded Future News.
The reported target is Columbia’s city government, not South Carolina’s statewide government. Columbia is the state capital and has about 150,000 residents, Recorded Future News reported.
Which Columbia city services were affected by the cyberattack?
The outage affected MyColaSC, the city platform used for utility payments, non-emergency issue reports and other municipal services. Geographic information systems and systems supporting animal services were also affected, according to the report.
With MyColaSC unavailable, city officials asked residents to use the phone to report potholes, fallen trees and broken streetlights. That is a practical workaround for service requests, but it does not restore the web portal or establish when it will return.
What services does Columbia say are still running?
A city official said core public-safety and utility operations remained available during the incident. The city listed these services as operating:
- Columbia Police Department operations
- Columbia-Richland Fire Department operations
- 911 communications
- Columbia Water systems
- The Payment Center, including online payment services
The distinction matters for residents: MyColaSC was reported down, while the city said online payment services through the Payment Center were still working. The available reporting does not explain how those separate payment functions are configured or whether every city transaction can be completed online.
Has Columbia identified ransomware or a data breach?
No. Columbia did not answer questions about whether ransomware was involved, according to Recorded Future News. As of the report’s reference to Wednesday, no hacking group had publicly claimed responsibility.
Those gaps leave several central facts unresolved: who accessed the city’s systems, how the intrusion occurred, whether information was taken, and whether any ransom demand was made. A service outage alone does not establish a data theft or ransomware event.
SLED declined to comment and referred questions to Columbia officials, the report said. City officials have described an active response and the state law-enforcement agency’s involvement, but the investigation had not produced a public attribution or technical account of the incident.
This story draws on original reporting from The Record.
