The Madison Information Technology Department shut down the city’s website after an employee brought a misplaced advertisement signifying a security breach to their attention Thursday.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said a member of the city’s IT staff noticed a payday loan ad on Madison’s website, cityofmadison.com, and reported that it meant a hacker had taken advantage of a weakness in one of the software products used to operate the site.
According to Verveer, residents as well as local reporters and city officials were inconvenienced for nearly four days when the website was inactive.
Verveer said he heard complaints from constituents who were unable to access important information throughout the weekend such as winter weather advisories, snow plow schedules and modifications to street parking in the snow.
The incident also made the absentee ballots for the Feb. 19 primary elections unavailable to voters, which Verveer said was a major disruption for the community.
Verveer said voters could obtain absentee ballots through email or over the phone but were not able to use the more efficient online interface.
Verveer praised the city’s IT staff and said the department took the appropriate security measures and handled what he considered a “chaotic” situation well.
The IT Department took the opportunity while the site was down to complete a comprehensive software update, which they had been planning to do sometime in the next few weeks, according to Verveer.
City IT staff gradually put content back on the website over the weekend, which was fully functioning by Sunday afternoon.
