Atlantans Turned Away From Court, Unable To Pay Water Bills Due To Ransomware Attack
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said the city is looking at the ransomware attack as a “massive inconvenience” and threat to national security but also as an opportunity to strengthen the city’s computer systems.
Tasnim Shamma / WABE
One week after a ransomware attack hit the city of Atlanta, some departments are still limping along.
Denice McMillian lives in Atlanta’s Reynoldstown neighborhood. She said she received a water bill in the mail about a couple of weeks ago for both March and February. But she said money was deducted from her account by the city and she had paid her bill for February. However, the city is unable to access any customer accounts at this time to verify this.
“I’m unable to resolve what I owe with Watershed Management due to the fact that their computers are down and they’re unable to really tell us anything,” McMillian said. “I hope the city can get this straightened out. It seems like it could potentially be a nightmare. Either they’re not getting the income that they need because we’re paying the bills and the city is not getting the money or they’re incapable of registering us as being paid and it may just be no big deal.”
A city customer service representative said she didn’t think people would be penalized on late water bill payments, but she hadn’t been advised on whether the city was going to waive late fees. She said while you can’t pay your water bill in person or online, you can still mail it to a post office box address.
Meanwhile, Atlanta Municipal Court’s computers still aren’t up and running. Parking tickets can be paid in person, but the court is still rescheduling all court appearances. The city said you won’t be penalized for missing court dates during this time. Reset notices are being mailed.
I’ve been going to @ATLCourt for five mornings straight. They handle this situation so unprofessionally smh. Every morning I’m the first one in line and they come out to tell us they aren’t taking our money with a smile SMH.
— Leek ملك (@leekshabazz) March 28, 2018
On Wednesday, the city launched a new page on its website: the Ransomware Cyberattack Information Hub. It has answers to frequently asked questions for residents and city employees about the incident on March 22.
Top Stories
