29,000 Cambridge Subscribers Compromised: The INC Ransom Attack That Knocked Out Harvard and MIT's Backup Alert Layer

The City of Cambridge, the Cambridge Emergency Communications Department, the Cambridge Police Department, and the Cambridge Fire Department are notifying the community that the CodeRED emergency notification platform has been taken offline following a nationwide cyberattack. A data breach exposed user data including phone numbers, email addresses, and passwords. Residents enrolled in CodeRED with a phone number or email may have been impacted. If you set up your CodeRED account with a password and used the same password for other personal or business accounts, the City strongly recommends changing those passwords immediately. Cambridge will continue to communicate emergency information through alternative channels during this period.

An update on the CodeRED outage: the platform remains offline as OnSolve completes the migration to a new, separate environment. During this period, Cambridge Emergency Communications is using tip411, Cambridge Police social channels, and direct coordination with university alert systems (Harvard MessageMe, MIT Alert) for community notifications. Residents will be required to reset their passwords when CodeRED is restored. We will provide notice when the new platform is available for password reset.

Cambridge CodeRED has been restored on a new platform — CodeRED by Crisis24 — on a separate, non-compromised environment. All previous passwords have been removed; subscribers must set new passwords by entering their username at the website and selecting 'Forgot password.' Phone numbers and email subscriptions have been retained; only passwords required reset. Cambridge thanks residents for their patience during the two-week outage and reminds subscribers to use unique passwords across all online accounts.