Louisiana Fire District Sues IT Company After Cyberattack

St. George Fire Protection District No. 2 in Louisiana experienced a cyberattack that compromised their computer network. The fire district has filed a lawsuit against their former IT security company, General Informatics LLC, claiming the company failed to properly protect them. The lawsuit was filed on March 20 in district court. This incident directly affected the fire district's operations and internal systems.

If you are a resident in the St. George Fire Protection District No. 2 service area, your emergency services may have been impacted during the attack. The news report does not specify whether personal information of residents was exposed.

If you have interacted with this fire district for permits, inspections, or other services, your contact information may have been in their systems. If you live in this fire district's service area, here is what to do.

1. Contact the fire district directly to ask if resident data was affected and what information may have been exposed.
2. If you provided personal information to the fire district for any reason, monitor your credit report for suspicious activity. You can get free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com.
3. Watch your email and mail for any notifications from the fire district about the incident.
4. Be alert for scam calls or emails claiming to be from the fire district asking you to verify information. This case highlights an important lesson: even the companies we hire to protect us can fail. When choosing services for your family or business, ask about their cybersecurity practices and what happens if they fail to protect you. Keep copies of important documents at home rather than relying only on digital systems. Remember that emergency services like fire departments are part of the critical infrastructure that needs strong cybersecurity to keep communities safe.