If you received a strange email from a Welland city hall account you are not alone.
The city confirming that someone hacked into one of their servers and were able to access some city hall accounts.
The information services department say that there was no malicious activity within the city systems and that more protections have been installed.
"As soon as we found out about this breach, we began working on a solution," said CAO Steve Zorbas. "The privacy and integrity of sensitive information is a number-one priority, and we are taking every action to mitigate the risk and enhance the security of our servers. In addition, we are taking the required steps to mitigate this possible privacy breach in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and reviewing our processes to ensure these types of breaches do not occur."
Cyber security consultants are reviewing the breach.
At this point it appears the purpose of the attack was to spread malware.
If you have received a suspicious email from a City of Welland staff account and are unsure if the information you have sent to the City has been compromised, please email cyber@welland.ca for further investigation.