“While residents are welcome to call us with any needs moving forward, we ask for continued patience and understanding as we expect a higher volume of calls and are still working with backup processes in some cases,” Castle said.
People who need to contact certain services can call original numbers listed on the city’s website.
In a September council meeting, Councilman Paul Lolli thanked City Manager Ashley Combs, her staff and the IT department for working “tremendously long hours” to get systems back online.
“Billion-dollar companies get cyberattacked, you know,” he said. “We didn’t get cyberattacked because we were Middletown, we got cyberattacked because there was something vulnerable...they’ll figure it out. We’ll fix it, and we’ll come back better.”
Council spent $295,610 on network hardware and consultation services in September. Castle said these changes were already planned for early 2026, but moved up due to the incident.
The city entered into a $151,010 contract with SecureCyber to purchase network hardware and consultation services, according to a city staff report.
Also, 200 Dell desktop computers were purchased from Insight Public Sector, Inc. for $144,600.
What was accessed?
The investigation into the incident remains ongoing with the assistance of third-party specialists, and it is not yet known what personal information, if any, may have been affected.
Clarification on whether this was resident or employee information was not given, though on Aug. 22, preliminary findings were released, stating some “city employee information may have been affected.”
The city did not give clarification on what type of employee data may have been accessed, and a statement said the city has “seen no evidence to date of any data being used for fraudulent purposes.”
Based on the results of the investigation, appropriate actions will be taken to notify and support any affected individuals.
How can people pay bills and access services?
Utilities: New utility bills are not being generated as of the date of the cybersecurity incident, which was on or about Aug. 17, according to Castle.
There is a planned grace period for payment of bills issued after systems are restored, and the length of this grace period will be determined once systems are fully restored, according to a city statement.
In-person payments for bills issued before services were down can be made online through InvoiceCloud or in person at the city building, but payments can only be made by credit card subject to credit card fees.
Utilities will not be shut off due to nonpayment during this time period.
Also, utility account information cannot be accessed and new utility accounts cannot be opened.
Income tax: The income tax office is also now open and accepting payments, though account information cannot be accessed.
Middletown Municipal Court is running on its normal schedule, and anyone with a pending court case should report as scheduled. In-person services for court administration; criminal and traffic ticket payment; and clerk of courts and warrants are open. The court can also assist residents with in-person court record searches.
Records: Requests for public and police records cannot be fulfilled online at this time. Fingerprint-based criminal background checks have also paused, but these checks can be requested from the county sheriff’s departments and other state and federal agencies.
Health Department: All services have resumed at the Middletown Health Department, including birth and death certificates and inspections.
It is open to the public for in-person services 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday at the city building.
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