Saint John will get at least $2 million from its insurance company following a cyberattack more than three years ago.
City council voted on Monday evening to settle a claim with AIG Insurance related to the November 2020 incident.
The company “provided a final release for the full-face value of the cyber policy in the amount of $2,000,000,” said a staff report to council.
Saint John had commenced legal action for claims under two of its policies related to the loss incurred because of the cyberattack.
Stephanie Rackley-Roach, the city’s chief information officer, said in an email that staff continue to work with AIG to settle the property portion of the claim.
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The city was forced to shut down all of its IT systems after the attack, which took place on Nov. 13, 2020.
City staff said the wide-reaching attack involved the encryption of most Windows-based servers and many “system endpoints,” including laptops and computers.
It also impacted the city’s Public Safety Communications Centre, forcing all 911 calls to be rerouted through Fredericton.
Officials decided to rebuild the network rather than risk trying to restore hardware compromised in the attack, fearing that remnants of malware may lead to potential reinfection.
The total recovery costs have been estimated at just under $3 million. Staff have said they expect about $2.5 million of that to be recovered through insurance policies.
