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Cyber-attack continues to impact the Town of Orangeville’s online systems

March 20, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

The Town of Orangeville continues to be impacted by a cybersecurity incident that began on Feb. 27, creating outages for certain online services.

The town became aware of the cyber-attack when IT security monitoring systems discovered suspicious activity. At that time, town staff took immediate action to safeguard information and further secure systems to mitigate potential risks of exposure.

The town is unable to share if personal data has been compromised by the cyber-attack. However, Orangeville CAO David Smith said if the town’s investigation determines information was leaked, affected individuals will be notified.

He told the Citizen the town is making “good progress” on recovery efforts and public services continue to be delivered.

“Roads and parks continue to be maintained; recreation program registrations proceeded this week, Fire Services continues to respond to calls; transit services have continued uninterrupted; council, committees, boards and task forces continue to meet; the library continues to loan books and offer programming; and the Town launched its 2025 Community Grants program. Generally speaking, it’s business as usual,” Smith noted.

The Town of Orangeville is still working to understand the nature and full scope of the cyber-attack by collaborating with cybersecurity experts and local authorities.

At this time, Orangeville CAO David Smith said the town isn’t able to share the implications of the cyber-attack or what it means for residents, due to it being under investigation.

“However, please know dedicated town staff are working diligently to support our Orangeville community and to restore regular operations as soon as possible,” said Smith.

He noted that most services, including those that are critical, continue to be delivered to the public with minimal disruption.

“Most impacts were felt by staff who worked quickly and efficiently to continue the delivery of public services sometimes in a manual or modified way,” Smith said.

He told the Citizen the precise state of service delivery is still fluid, and an up-to-date list of remaining service impacts is available on the Cybersecurity incident alert page on the Town of Orangeville’s website.

“This is the best tool for residents to reference if they are unsure about a service’s availability,” he told the Citizen.

In addition to collaborating with cybersecurity experts and local authorities, the Town of Orangeville is working closely with legal counsel.

Smith said he’s unable to share how what the anticipated cost is for responding to the cyber-attack, due to it being under investigation.

The town is also unable to share when it estimates the investigation will conclude, but Smith said staff are moving as quickly as they can.

“Our investigation is ongoing and involves a thorough review of all potentially impacted systems and data to determine the extent of the incident,” said Smith. “This is a complex and time-consuming process, and we are making every effort to ensure it is completed expeditiously and accurately. We will provide updates as they become available.”

While the Town of Orangeville is currently focused on recovery efforts and protecting sensitive or private information, staff are working closely with cybersecurity experts to build on any lessons learned. It is hoped that this will prevent a similar incident from occurring again in the future.

Smith said the town is “handling the matter with the utmost seriousness and diligence.” He added that the town’s commitment to protecting the privacy and security of the Orangeville community remains steadfast.

“We want to thank the community for their understanding and support as we continue to address this issue,” Smith said.

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