City Responding to Network Security Incident

The City of Yellowknife (the “City”) is actively responding to a cybersecurity incident that is temporarily impacting access to some internal systems and online services. Public safety and critical infrastructure systems remain fully operational.

Immediately upon detecting the incident, City staff took action to secure its systems, limit potential risks, and initiate a comprehensive investigation.   As a result of early detection and response, preliminary findings indicate that no data has been taken. City staff are working closely with cybersecurity experts to understand the nature and full scope of the incident. 

The City’s main priority is maintaining the integrity of its systems and protecting sensitive and private information.  The City enacted its incident response protocols to contain the incident, including the implementation of additional measures to further enhance its network security.    These additional measures are impacting some city services.

City facilities and programming will continue to operate as normal. However, at this time, the City is not able to process point-of-sale (POS) payments, and as a result, City facilities can only accept cash payments until further notice.  Specifically, as of 4:00 p.m. today, residents will be required to pay cash to access paid programming and facilities and to pay invoices. If possible, members of the public are encouraged to delay making payment of invoices until the current situation is resolved.  Public access computers located at the library are also unavailable as a result of the incident, and library patrons will be limited to five items per person.         

The City of Yellowknife remains committed to transparency and accountability throughout this process. Updates will be provided as new information becomes available via the City’s website at www.yellowknife.ca and social media channels.