While most of the world resumes business as usual on a Monday morning, folks in the Lincoln Town Office were closed following what they say was a cyberattack on parts of their network over the weekend.

What happened:

Red error messages on a black computer screen indicating blocked web resources

They posted a notice on their social media page that the Town Office would be closed until they could determine the extent of the damage.

"...the town's information technology provider, the Motorbrain Group, notified us that files on portions of the town's network had been encrypted. Upon discovering the incident, immediate steps were taken to isolate affected systems and prevent any further impact. Preliminary information indicates that the incident may have originated as early as Thursday, August 13. Several town computer systems have been affected, including the main file server and other network infrastructure."

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Ransomware, as these attacks are often called, is when an outside entity (hacker) encrypts files on a network, rendering them unusable unless a ransom is paid. The ransom requested is often very expensive, and when small towns are hit, they often don't have the resources to meet such demands.

What's being done:

A person in silhouette against multiple computer monitors displaying lines of code

The scope of the situation is still unclear, officials say, but they assure everyone that the IT professionals are doing their best to get to the bottom of it. Town officials did update their post to let people know they will be open on Tuesday, starting at 8:30, but will be limited in their ability to perform some tasks.

"We are able to register vehicles, issue hunting and fishing licenses, take payments for taxes, and look up information on some properties."

The notice went on to thank people in advance for their patience and understanding.

The bigger picture:

a laptop and a computer

Lincoln is not alone in their plight. Many Maine municipalities and organizations have fallen victim to cyberattacks and ransomware.

Rural wastewater systems were impacted by attacks in 2021. By 2023, the FBI ranked Maine high on the list of states with growing cybercrime losses.

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The Maine Municipal Association even put out a warning to cities and towns across the Pine Tree State to be on the lookout, saying the best way to try not to become a target of such attacks is to prepare for them.

"In recent years, ransomware incidents have become increasingly prevalent among state and local government entities and critical infrastructure organizations. Ransomware incidents can severely impact an organization, leaving it without the data it needs to operate and deliver critical services... Ransomware incidents have become more destructive and impactful in nature and scope. "

A pixelated orange character with a hat

If you do a quick search of the Maine organizations impacted by cyberattacks in the last year alone, almost half a dozen instances pop up alongside the town of Lincoln, including last spring's attack on the Covenant Healthcare system include St. Joseph's and St. Mary's Hospitals, this March's attack of the Aroostook Mental Health Center, the April attack of the State of Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicle Office, July's Tidewater Telecom network,  the attack on Central Maine Healthcare's system.

What can be done in the future:

A security and privacy dashboard with its status

According to the United States Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (or CISA for short), there are several different things businesses, organizations, and municipalities should and can be doing to protect themselves, including software updates and security reviews, maintaining offline and encrypted backups of critical files and data, retaining backup hardware, and personnel training, creating a cyber incident response plan, and practice it so everyone knows what to do and who to report to in the time of a crisis. They also suggest implementing a zero trust architecture to limit access to important data or networks.

Here are some more great tips to protect yourself against cyberattacks.