Ramsey Data Breach

The screenshot below appeared on computer screens in the Ramsey Police Department just before the entire system went dark due to a Ransomware attack. Despite the fact that Share 911 was in place at the time, our Borough chose NOT to alert residents. Residents' personal data was compromised. Had our Borough sent out an alert suggesting changing passwords or turning on 2-factor authentication that could have been avoided.

The Back Story

On or around September 7, 2021, the Borough suffered a critical data security incident. Neither the Share911 nor the Nixle alert systems were used to notify residents. It was later confirmed that residents were affected. Scroll down to the bottom to see the letter which was eventually sent out by the Borough to residents they confirmed were compromised.

At a Borough meeting following the Ransomware breach, the Mayor mentioned that all the residents that were compromised as a result of the breach were contacted and that the Borough would be purchasing a new IT contract to enhance security moving forward.

The Borough was contacted by outside IT companies and refused to even hear their presentations. They stated they are not required to go to bid for IT services. Our borough chose to spend even more money continuing to do business with Pascack Data Services of Hawthorne, NJ, the same company that failed to protect us previously. There are too many invoices to post so we have decided to share only the larger ticket invoices of the (no-bid) business awarded by the Borough to Pascack Data Services for your review.