PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Regional Transit is investigating a ransomware attack on its operations that slowed light rail operations last week — a problem originally believed to be a computer glitch.
The agency announced on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, that it has “launched an investigation, activated its Cyber Incident Response Team, notified law enforcement, and engaged nationally recognized third-party cybersecurity and data forensics experts” after detecting the incident on Dec. 19. Rail service was temporarily disrupted that day but is now operating normally, PRT said.
The Pittsburgh Union Progress reports PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph said the agency does not believe riders’ personal information has been compromised, but that is one of the matters still under investigation.
While riders are able to use most services normally, PRT’s customer service workers are currently unable to work remotely and are making handwritten reports of problems rather than entering them in the computer system, Brandolph said. Because of the ongoing investigation, he was unable to comment on details such as whether the attack has been stopped or if hackers had requested money or something else from the agency.
