The North Reading Police and Fire Departments are notifying the community of a nationwide cyber attack against the OnSolve CodeRED emergency notifications system, and encouraging users of the system to immediately change their passwords.
Per the vendor: Community members and residents who are signed up for CodeRed notifications are highly encouraged to change/update their passwords for other personal or business accounts if the same password has been used to make the emergency notification system account.
The CodeRED emergency notification system is a voluntary program where residents can sign up to receive notifications and alerts regarding emergencies, ongoing projects, and more. A data breach experienced by the OnSolve CodeRed system has exposed user data, including phone numbers, email addresses, and passwords.
The vendor, OnSolve, is investigating this attack and is actively looking at alternative options for users. While data stolen in the attack has not yet been leaked, it could be leaked at anytime.
Community members are advised to check the Town of North Reading website if there is a major emergency while the CodeRed system is down. The cyber attack does NOT affect 911 services.
CodeRED is NOT related to the Emergency Alert System, which is the federal government-managed emergency notifications system, which is recognizable by the telltale alert tone that residents may hear on TV, radio or via their cellphones. This service, which the Commonwealth of Massachusetts may deploy during a serious emergency, is not affected by the CodeRED outage and does not require anyone to sign up.
The North Reading Police and Fire Departments will provide updates to residents once they become available from OnSolve CodeRED systems.