KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority was hit by a cyberattack Tuesday morning, knocking several systems offline.
Prior to the Board of Commissioners regularly-scheduled monthly meeting, Chair Reginald Townsend read from a statement regarding the cyberattack.
Townsend said the ATA was hit with the attack on Tuesday morning. He said the agency immediately contacted “all appropriate authorities,” including the FBI, to start an investigation.
He said that because of the agency’s data storage policies, he believes “all systems and data are secure.”
While all ATA services are operating, including fixed routes, Freedom and Freedom On-Demand paratransit service, the attack took out RideKC regional call centers offline, as well as landline at the KCATA.
Riders seeking information about services and routes can still access the ATA’s website and transit app. Freedom and Freedom On-Demand customers have been provided the following alternate numbers to schedule trips:
- Kansas City/Independence: 816-512-5563
- Wyandote County: 913-573-8351
- Johnson County: 913-362-3500
“These cyberattacks are unfortunately a common headline,” Townsend said. “Fortunately, we believe the safeguards we have in place will keep our data safe.”
Townsend said ATA staff are “working around the clock” with third-party cyberattack agencies to restore systems, but was not able to provide a timeline on when those systems might be restored.
The source of the cyberattack wasn’t immediately clear. An FBI spokesperson directed all comment to KCATA.
The cyberattack is the latest to strike public agencies across the Kansas City area. In December, Liberty Hospital was hit with a “cybersecurity incident” that took its systems offline for several days.
The Kansas Judicial System was also hit with a cyberattack late last year. The court, which is still in the process of bringing all affected systems back online, blamed the attack on a “Russian-based group.”
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