Stadt Mössingen

The Stadtverwaltung Mössingen, also known as the City Administration of Mössingen, is the municipal authority responsible for local governance in the town of Mössingen, Germany. It provides a range of public services to residents, including resident registration, issuance of identity documents, and processing of financial transactions. The administration oversees the operation of public facilities such as the main library and ensures the delivery of essential citizen services. It maintains an internal information technology infrastructure that supports email, telephone, and web-based services for both staff and the public. Through its various departments, the Stadtverwaltung implements local policies and enforces municipal regulations within its jurisdiction.

On 17 November 2023, the Stadtverwaltung Mössingen was subjected to a cyber attack that compromised its information technology systems. The malware infection resulted in a total shutdown of the administration’s IT network, causing widespread disruption to its digital services. In response, the organisation’s internal IT staff worked alongside local law enforcement agencies and contracted cybersecurity specialists to investigate the breach. The joint effort focused on identifying the malware, containing its spread, and planning a full reconstruction of the compromised infrastructure. While the attack rendered most administrative applications unusable, the administration prioritised the continuation of essential citizen services such as resident registration, identity card issuance, and payment processing. These critical functions were maintained through temporary manual procedures and limited workarounds while the primary systems remained offline. During the incident, electronic mail services were largely unavailable, whereas telephone lines and a reduced set of web‑based information pages continued to operate. Public amenities under the administration’s purview, including the main town library, experienced partial closures or reduced operating hours as staff adapted to the loss of digital support. Officials indicated that restoring the entire IT environment would require considerable time because it involved rebuilding servers, reinstalling software, and implementing enhanced security measures from scratch.