Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) Offline after Cyberattack

A cyber hack forced the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) to shut down its computer network. Officials shut down its network, removed it from the internet and hired Surefire Cyber to collect and analyze data and logs from 590 COTA operating systems. COTA continued operating all transit services during the IT network outage. For weeks, riders didn't have Wi-Fi access and buses couldn't track real-time transit information or plan trips. All operations have since returned to normal.

There is no indication that "personally identifiable information was accessed" and that "there are no active, ongoing cyber-security threats within our systems," said Sophia Mohr, COTA's chief innovation and technical officer.

Estimated Cost

Network shut down, Operations disrupted but continued.

Threat Source

Impacts

IT