Case

Everything in the cloud — after the massive IT attack

When Kalix Municipality was hit by a hacker attack, the entire IT system was down and suddenly the 1,600 employees could not communicate with each other. The municipality’s message to others? Use the cloud and let a third party run it.

Background and challenge

Kalix Municipality’s intranet had long since lost its function as the preferred communication channel. The version was so old that it could not be updated and employees had started to use other channels to reach each other. Work to create a new and smarter intranet was underway when, on 16 December 2021, it was suddenly attacked.

Kalix intranät i bärbar dator.

"Everything was down"

The attack, a so-called ransomeware attack, affected virtually all of the municipality’s operational systems. E-mail and the ventilation system were down, and wages and benefits couldn't be paid. It also became a question of health and life: How could we now ensure that elderly people in home care received their medication, for example?

– We soon had to shut down the entire network to stop the attack and ensure that they could not access sensitive information. "As both the external website and the intranet were on their own servers, this meant that these were also shut down," explains Pernilla Jansson, Communications Officer at Kalix Municipality.

Solution

New intranet — in just 10 days

There was no channel to reach all employees; the situation was unsustainable and the need for a new intranet was enormous. The municipality, which before the attack had been in the process of switching over to Sitevision Cloud for their intranet, was now in a hurry. And within a week and a half, they had a new intranet.

– The fact that it was resolved so quickly meant a great deal. Rapid feedback is crucial in a situation like this, says Pernilla Jansson.

Results

“Safety first”

Today, Kalix Municipality has a user-friendly and modern intranet that can be accessed wherever you are.

– "We wanted to create a reliable and credible channel for internal communication and create that 'we' feeling, and now we’re well on our way," says Pernilla Jansson.

Before the attack, the municipality had all its operations on its own servers, but with the crash it reconsidered. Do you have to do everything yourself? Instead of having your own staff manage yet another tool, why not let the supplier manage the operation?

– This is really our message to others — make sure to have safe and robust solutions to communicate information in case of a crisis. Clear and accessible information that is continuously updated avoids unnecessary anxiety and misunderstandings and builds trust.


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