How Pittsburgh changed after a 2016 cybersecurity report said it wasn’t prepared for an attack

Editor’s note: On Monday, July 16, PublicSource published its first investigative piece on civic tech in Pittsburgh as part of its involvement with Open Data PGH. Below is the introduction to that story. For further reading, check out PublicSource’s related story published on the same day: “Some of Pittsburgh’s most sensitive tech concerns can be uncovered with ‘copy and paste.’“

---

The City of Pittsburgh doesn’t want to talk about its cybersecurity.

Its top tech official is staying tight-lipped, saying the stakes are too high to say much publicly.

“[T]here’s just too much at risk to the public sector,” said Lee Haller, director of Pittsburgh’s Department of Innovation and Performance.

But is the city just being cautious? Or are officials just avoiding a public discussion of persistent problems?

Maybe both. A cyber attack in Atlanta that’s been a living nightmare there since March has put many cities on notice.

A late 2016 report on Pittsburgh’s tech systems, that has yet to be publicly reported on, illustrates many of Pittsburgh’s own vulnerabilities — and the city won’t say what’s been done to address shortcomings it still considers a threat to public safety and infrastructure.

Read the full story Get Pittsburgh stories in your inbox weekly