The Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation board called an emergency meeting July 13 to address a computer virus that affected the department’s internal network.
CCPR Director Michael Klitzing said the virus did not affect any of the systems used to interact directly with the public and that personal and credit card information is not believed to have been compromised.
The virus was discovered on July 10 when CCPR employees noticed their email accounts weren’t working. CCPR contacted its IT consultants and the City of Carmel’s IT department to investigate the problem, leading to the discovery of the virus.
Klitzing said IT professionals are working to determine how the virus infiltrated the network and what it affected.
“We rely on our outside consultant to make sure our systems are safe,” Klitzing said. “Somewhere there was a hole in the system. That’s where we’ll do our investigation to determine where that hole was and how we make sure we correct that moving forward.”
In addition to handling CCPR email, the internal network contains information on vendor contracts, historical documents and construction plans, among other things. A backup system is also believed to have been affected. Klitzing said most of the potentially missing information should be able to be recovered through paper documents and those on file with vendors.
Klitzing said he doesn’t believe any of the affected information poses a security risk. He said CCPR is working with its insurance company and consultants on a plan to notify employees and vendors whose information on the server may have been compromised.
“We’re disappointed and frustrated that this has occurred,” Klitzing said. “We’ve seen Fortune 500 companies experience the same challenges. We take some degree in relief in knowing so many of our systems are not on our server that impacts our customers.”
Klitzing said CCPR will likely pay up front to address the situation and later be reimbursed by insurance for costs beyond the $50,000 maximum deductible.
CCPR is aiming to have its email system back online by July 14. Those wanting to communicate with CCPR in the meantime can visit the website, use the app or call 317-848-7275.
