Be: Hit by cyberattack, the Courcelles Public Social Action Center persevered to respond to floods and emergency conditions

On July 15, the Courcelles Public Center for Social Action (CPAS) issued a statement on its Facebook page:

!!Alles CPAS Administrative Services have been forced to stop since Tuesday.
We have been the subject of a large-scale cyber attack and our security systems unfortunately have not been able to counter it.
The IT Department worked hard to find solutions quickly. We didn’t know what we were up against.
Unfortunately, the information was confirmed yesterday. This cyberattack managed to foil all security systems and spread across the network. The data protection delegate closely monitored the issue.
Concretely, no computer hardware can be turned on. At this point we can neither send nor receive any email. !️In the first step, so we need to start over using handwritten documents available as if CPAS just opened its doors.
Aurore Goossens , CPAS president ′′ This attack shocks me especially as it targets an already weakened audience. This is totally fraudulent! I wish to reassure all our recipients. We are doing everything we can to ensure that follow-up is provided and that our recipients receive the social assistance they need. We will work with service officials to set up an organization to best receive our recipients. Regarding the attack, a complaint will be filed today. ′′

!!️In waiting for the system to be reconfigured, CPAS services will work with available means. Immediately and for an unknown period, no email addresses will be available and emails will not be handled.
To contact us, feel free to go through the emergency numbers available:
– Administrative Department: 071/46.95.01
– Social services: 071/46.95.08
– Family support service: 071/46.64.15
– Service IDESS (taxi social…) : 071/46.64.12
– Rest home ′′ Spartacus Huart Center 071/46.95.00

Aurore Goossens , CPAS President

And then, Belgium and Germany got hit with massive floods causing extreme damage and loss of life. And in an instant, Courcelles and CPAS rose to the challenge, disseminating information to residents and organizing collection of necessities for those impacted by the floods. If you read their Facebook posts over the next two days, it is inspiring.

They persevered.

But we never heard another word about what happened with the cyberattack.  Did they recover on their own? Are they still recovering? Did they pay ransom?  We do not know.

Reporting by Chum1ng0, editing by Dissent