(Columbia, SC) – The City of Columbia is providing an update regarding the cybersecurity incident discovered on October 20, 2026, which impacted several public-facing services and involved sensitive data within the City’s network. Upon discovering the incident, the City’s Information Technology Department immediately contacted the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to investigate the incident, assess the full scope and determine the potential impact. As the ongoing criminal investigation continues, the City of Columbia can confirm it is a victim of a ransomware attack.
The City is taking this incident extremely seriously and is working methodically with SLED and cybersecurity specialists to contain the attack, identify affected systems, assess the extent of any information that may have been accessed or compromised, and restore impacted services. As part of these efforts, affected applications were taken offline as a precautionary measure to help contain the incident and support the investigation and recovery process.
While some customer-facing applications and online services remain temporarily unavailable as the City works to resolve the incident, the City’s core functions and critical public safety and utility services remain operational. Business continuity measures have been implemented across affected departments to maintain service delivery while recovery efforts continue.
The City of Columbia wants to reassure residents that critical public safety and utility systems remain operational. These include the Columbia Police Department, Columbia-Richland Fire Department, 911 communications, Columbia Water systems and the Payment Center, including online payment services.
Several public-facing applications and services are currently impacted, including MyColaSC and online services related to Animal Services, reservations for Parks and Recreation, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
While MyColaSC is impacted, residents can call (803) 545-3300 to report concerns or request assistance with issues typically submitted through the application. These include potholes, fallen trees, park equipment concerns, broken streetlights and other local service requests.
Departments affected by the temporary suspension of network applications have implemented alternative processes to maintain operations and continue serving residents, businesses and visitors. The City of Columbia remains committed to delivering essential services while working diligently to restore impacted applications as safely and efficiently as possible.
If you have any questions regarding specific departmental functions, please contact departments directly.
For City of Columbia contact information, please visit https://columbiasc.gov/connect-with-columbia/
For all emergencies, residents should continue to call 911.
The City of Columbia remains vigilant as the investigation continues, prioritizing the security of its systems, the protection of information entrusted to it and the continuity of essential public services. SLED may work collaboratively with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and other state and federal partners as appropriate to investigate the incident and determine its origin, scope and severity. In addition, the City of Columbia is weighing its options and has reached out to highly qualified third-party cybersecurity professionals to advise the City on our action plan to address the current threat.
Ransomware attacks remain a significant cybersecurity threat to organizations across the country, including government agencies. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), more than 3,600 ransomware complaints were reported in 2025. These figures reflect reported complaints and do not represent the total number of ransomware incidents nationwide. View the FBI IC3 Annual Reports.
See 2025 report: 2025_IC3Report
The City of Columbia understands the importance of protecting the information entrusted to it and recognizes that residents, businesses and employees may have questions or concerns about this incident. As the investigation continues and additional information is confirmed, the City will provide further updates regarding the incident, service restoration efforts, protective measures and any identified impacts to information. The City remains committed to a thorough, transparent and measured response throughout the investigation and recovery process.