The city warned wait times may be longer.
Email, phone and website services remain unavailable.
As of Friday, city staff could not answer questions on the cause of the attack and what information was accessed, saying it was still under investigation by local, state and federal agencies.
Those citizens needing to contact certain services can call established secondary phone lines:
Middletown Police (non-emergency): 513-425-7701. Those experiencing a criminal or medical emergency can call 911.
Middletown Health Department: 877-774-4636
Code enforcement: 513-635-2331
Building inspection/zoning: 513-760-8455
Middletown Regional Airport: 513-236-3238
The Event Center of Middletown: 513-567-0788
“Due to the high sensitivity of the situation, the city asks for continued patience from the community and media as the investigation continues,” a statement from the city read.
The cybersecurity incident “disrupted several city functions,” according to a city statement Monday.
In-person services at the city building, including police/public records, utility billing and income tax are closed until further notice.
Utility billing invoices can still be paid online through InvoiceCloud, though there is a credit card charge.
While these services are closed, no utilities will be shut off due to nonpayment.
Middletown Municipal Court is running on its normal schedule, and anyone with a pending court case should report as scheduled.
Middletown isn’t the only city to experience a cyber incident. A few months ago, Liberty Twp. dealt with a ransomware attack.
The ransomware incident began May 5 when township employees became suspicious after it became difficult to access email. For a short time, phone service which goes through an app was also compromised.
Most of the township’s phone, email and electronic communication was up and running within about two weeks.
John Lewis, assistant township administrator, said township officials did not know who the attackers are or what kind of demands they made. All that information is part of an ongoing investigation by law enforcement officials.
As of mid-July, the township was continuing to work through the incident with consultants and is cooperating with law enforcement.
The Liberty Twp. incident did not involve the Butler County Sheriff office’s substation located in the township administration building. It has a separate IT system, which wasn’t impacted.
Writer Sue Kieswetter contributed to this report.
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