Steady restoration progress, with a customer-centric focus
Hamilton, ON – The City of Hamilton continues to make steady progress in recovering from the cyber incident, which it identified February 25 and quickly contained. Throughout the response, the City has continued to deliver essential core programs and services to the community, with more services coming back regularly.
“I am appreciative of our City staff for their dedication as we restore services in a manner that is safe to do so. Fortifying our defenses against future threats so we are more resilient and can meet the needs of both our community and staff in the best possible way,” said Mayor Andrea Horwath. “I recognize the difficulties this situation has imposed and the frustrations it has caused. I want to assure Hamiltonians that I understand the inconvenience folks are dealing with and sincerely thank everyone for their continued patience and understanding.”
Focused on a customer-centric approach to restore services and offer an improved and simplified user experience, the most recent updates include:
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The askcity@hamilton.ca general inquiry email restored, so residents can email any non-urgent requests or general questions to the Customer Contact Centre team. The City receives more than14,000 askcity emails each year.
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Prioritizing the customer call in experience through the Customer Contact Centre 905-546-CITY (2489). A new feature of the phone queue system advises callers of their number in the queue and the anticipated wait time.
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City job postings resumed on April 29, 2024, on a new platform with an enhanced user experience focused on making the application process easier for the applicant. Since launch, the City has received 27,120 job applications for open City positions as of June 9. For reference, the City received 84,938 applications total in 2023.
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Pre-authorized tax payment plans (PAPs) schedule restored, so taxpayers can revert to their regular payment schedule on each plan. The City thanks taxpayers for their patience while withdrawal dates for each plan were adjusted.
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Improvements to timely financial processing, such as a temporary vendor payment solution that will increase and expedite payments to vendors. The City is also transitioning from manual processes back to our restored payroll systems, which is on track for late June.
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Electronic filing resumed for Provincial Offences Administration, resulting in faster processing time for red light camera and automatic speed enforcement tickets.
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Helping transit riders plan their trips through work with third party trip planning apps, such as Apple and Google, and restored access to the General Transit Feed Specification (GTSF). Current bus schedules can be found online at hamilton.ca/hsrdetours and progress is being made to restore real-time route information.
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Summer festivals and events moving forward as planned with no disruption or processing delays to permits.
The City will be providing a further update to Council on June 19.
“We will continue to put in the work to make thoughtful, intentional, and incremental improvements. Our goal is to achieve a state superior to where we started before the incident occurred. With a steadfast commitment to Hamiltonians and our business partners, we are dedicated to delivering the best possible customer service experience across all City functions,” said Marnie Cluckie, City Manager.
“The process of investigating, restoring, and rebuilding will take time. Securing our systems is essential for safeguarding sensitive information and maintaining the trust of our community, both now and in the future. I want to again thank everyone for their patience and understanding, notably our staff who have been working long, hard hours. I look forward to providing our next update following the June 19 General Issues Committee meeting.”
Soon after the onset, the City contained the incident, and involved a team of experts in investigation, response, restoration and rebuilding efforts. Through forensic analysis, the City has determined that, at this time, there is no evidence that data or personal information has been compromised.
For the latest information, a full list of service disruptions, and answers to frequently asked questions, visit hamilton.ca/cyberincident.