Fire Rescue Victoria without computer dispatch system after cyber attack

Victorian firefighters are still without this crucial tool—nine days after a crippling cyber attack hijacked its IT systems.

Victorian firefighters are still suffering the consequences of a system-crippling cyber attack on Fire Rescue Victoria. Picture: Mark Wilson

Fire Rescue Victoria will be without its computer dispatch system, which sends trucks to fires, for “weeks” with the bill for its system-crippling cyber attack likely to run into the millions of dollars.

Nine days after it was hit by a ransomware attack which blacked out its IT systems, FRV is still using pagers, radios and mobile phones to send firefighters to fires.

The fire service’s payroll system is also offline, though some phone systems have been restored.

FRV’s computers system have been hit by two interconnected pieces of ransomware.

One called “HelloKitty” attacks Linux servers while another called “Zeppelin” knocks out Windows machines.

It is understood hackers gained access through an external contractor which made the mistake of clicking on an email attachment.

An industry source familiar with the attack said: “This is going to cost millions. I reckon at least $20m by the time they rebuild.”

The source estimated it would take another three to four weeks to completely rebuild the computer systems.

The attack began at about 4am on December, 15, with acting FRV commissioner Gavin Freeman telling reporters the next day the outage was likely to last four days.

The dispatch system automatically turns on lights and opens doors in a fire station.

FRV has stressed that community safety has not been compromised and the service continues to dispatch crews and appliances through mobile phones, pagers and radios.

An FRV spokeswoman told the Herald Sun it was continuing to experience a widespread IT outage following the attack.

“We have been working around the clock to investigate and recover and some affected systems have now been restored, including phones,” she said.

“Emails are expected to be back up and running shortly.”

The investigation into the attack is ongoing and FRV is still determining whether any data has been compromised.

“We are taking decisive action in response to the attack, continuing to work with specialist cyber security experts and the state and federal government and are taking precautionary measures to protect FRV from further ­attack,” she said.