Town of Dover, NJ

Dover operates as a municipal government entity serving the community within Morris County, New Jersey. Its core functions involve providing essential local government services to its residents and businesses, typical of a town administration. The organisation maintains internal computer networks and email systems necessary for its daily operations and public service delivery. These systems support various administrative and potentially public-facing functions critical to town governance.

In November 2019, Dover experienced a significant cybersecurity incident when its municipal systems were targeted by Ryuk ransomware. This attack disrupted network operations and email functionality. Crucially, essential services, including emergency dispatch, remained operational throughout the incident, and no compromise of personal information occurred. Dover's IT consultants successfully removed the ransomware without paying any ransom and confirmed no data alteration or destruction took place. The town restored approximately half of the affected computers while implementing system updates for enhanced protection. Investigations confirmed no ransom demand was made to Dover, though full attribution of the attack remained undetermined. This incident demonstrated the municipality's ability to respond effectively to a cyberattack, mitigating impact and restoring critical functions while safeguarding sensitive data.