ST PAUL, Minn. — In Minnesota’s capital city, the fight against a so-far invisible enemy is underway. City officials in St. Paul are working to get some city systems back online after a cyber attack.
Local, state and federal agencies are working to identify the cause of this, and that includes the Minnesota National Guard.
“It’s definitely an emergency,” Army National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Brian Morgan, Director of Cyber Coordination, said.
Morgan says this is the first time their cyber forces have deployed to a situation happening inside Minnesota.
“The National Guard has provided support federally to active duty forces, US Cyber Command, back in 2020, 2021,” Morgan said. “So the team has been active outside of the state, doing federal missions before.”
As for what the team is doing right now, Morgan says he can’t share, as the investigation into the cause and damage continues.
“The National Guard’s role is largely focused around helping the city of St. Paul recover,” he said.
Governor Tim Walz shared Wednesday that 13 members of the guard have been deployed for this. Morgan says there are dozens of people on the full team, ready to respond to these challenges.
“We know the kind of negative experiences that St. Paul has been dealing with, and we’ve selected the people, you know, to respond to that who have those skills,” he said.
Eric Ebner is the Chief Technology Officer for 360 Security Services. He’s also a former guardsman, and said he helped push for the creation of the cyber defense unit.
“I knew they had a long road ahead of them,” Ebner said, of the challenges facing St. Paul after this attack.
“The textbook example of why we need this asset,” he added. “Well trained, mission ready, able to jump in.”
Morgan says many on the team have experience with cybersecurity in the private sector. Ebner said that experience is critical in moments like this.
“They can start looking for that pathway to restoring priority things, secondary things, tertiary things,” he said.
It’s unclear exactly how long things could take before everything is fixed and fully back online. Morgan said it’s difficult to know.
Ebner said using other cities that have been attacked in a similar fashion as a frame of reference, it could possibly be weeks or months.
“You hear a lot that organizations are completely shut down for a week or two, or sometimes even longer,” Ebner said. “And, yes, it is speculation as to the timeline, but that’s kind of the reality, looking at the field out there and seeing what others have experienced.”
Regardless, Morgan says they’re prepared and ready to assist in any way they can.
“Everyone is working towards the same goal of restoring services to the people of St. Paul as soon as possible and as securely as possible,” Morgan said.
