Brownsville Public Utilities Board is working with federal authorities in a data security incident that impacted BPUB systems.
The utility provider’s IP team discovered the incident on Sunday while the system was running, said Ryan Greenfeld, communications and public relations manager for BPUB.
“They noticed some unusual server activity and they were able to determine some kind of data incident, once that happened they were able to take immediate action to try to mitigate any kind of damage there could be,” Greenfeld said.
BPUB is working with outside cybersecurity and data privacy professionals to remove any and all infections from BPUB systems and make sure all devices are clean.
“We are working with them to determine what the full scope of this incident is and what we could do to ensure that there wouldn’t be anything like this that happens again,” he said.
BPUB provides service to the vast majority of Brownsville
Greenfeld said the utility company’s electrical service and wastewater service were not affected by the security incident. “There weren’t any service interruptions or anything like that. We have done what we needed to do to maintain service for our customers.”
Officials don’t believe the data security incident affected customers who pay the BPUB Online because those payments are processed through a third party server.
Customers are still able to call in to make service request, make payments online and actually go to BPUB to make payments via the drive-thru lanes. However, the phone system that customers use to make payments is currently not working.
Because the incident remains under investigation, BPUB officials are limited as to what information can be released, but the utility provider will keep BPUB customers updated on relevant developments as the investigation continues.
“Know that this data security incident we learned about we were able to do what we need to do know to remediate the situation and recover,” he said.
“We want to reiterate that we are here for our customers and we will make sure to keep them abreast of this investigation as much as we are able to,” Greenfeld said.
