Hackers a constant concern for Lincoln officials

The City of Lincoln is constantly barraged by hackers trying to get access to confidential information.

“We have upwards of a thousand threats a day of people trying to get into our network,” said Steve Henderson the city’s Chief Information Officer.

Henderson said hackers are typically just trying to cause problems, but can be more malicious.

“They may be trying to gain access to confidential data in hopes of selling it,” he said. “They may wish to do something that’d cause the city to actually pay them ransom.”

Lincoln’s never had a big threat, he said.

But a few miles down the road, in Beatrice, city workers were left unplugged Wednesday after hackers installed a virus that took out their phone and internet systems.

Henderson said these viruses can come from anywhere, but many start in city employee’s inboxes.

“Exercise common sense,” Henderson said. “If you get an email that’s out of context or that you weren’t expecting and if it has a link, never click on the link.”

 Of course, the city does protect computers with anti–virus software and other measures, but Henderson said everyone plays a part in the security of the system because a lot of information is at stake.

“We have information on bills people have paid, information about utilities people consume, so it’s information that could either be concerned with public health and welfare,” Henderson said.

Back in Beatrice, systems are up and running for the most part.

City officials are taking extra security measures and have reported the problem to the FBI for investigation.