Columbia, South Carolina confirms ransomware attack; several city services still offline

The City of Columbia, South Carolina confirmed on October 23, 2026 that it is a victim of a ransomware attack, changing the classification of the incident its Information Technology Department first identified as suspicious activity on October 20. City Manager Teresa Wilson said in a city video that the city is working with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and cybersecurity specialists to contain the attack, identify affected systems, and determine whether information was compromised. The FBI told WIS it is aware of the incident but was not involved as of October 23, and no restoration timeline has been published.

Several public facing services remain unavailable, including MyColaSC, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), parks and recreation reservations, and payment services related to Animal Services, with affected departments using alternative processes. Police, fire, 911 communications, Columbia Water, utility services, and online payment services remain operational. No attacker, ransomware family, initial access method, ransom demand, or confirmed data compromise has been identified in the reporting, so this is prepared as a Cybersecurity item, not a Breaches add, following the Richmond Public Schools and Oneonta precedents: no record count is stated.

Sources: WIS via Bitcomme; City of Columbia; The IT Guys