Phone lines restored for all Harlingen city departments after cyber concern

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The City of Harlingen shut down phone and internet services across all city departments, as an enhanced safety measure to protect the city’s network after learning of a potential cyber concern.

According to a statement from the city, internet connection was down with the exception of emergency lines.

“The City of Harlingen’s information technology department confirmed this is a localized issue within the City of Harlingen network, affecting some city servers,” Christina Garcia, Harlingen Public Information Officer with the City of Harlingen said.

ValleyCentral spoke to Garcia who said the city’s security monitoring systems in place notified city staff of a potential cyber concern regarding a city work computer.

City departmental phone lines were reviewed for safety and placed back online.

Residential services were not affected, the city adds.

“The city’s IT department is working to ensure all cybersecurity systems and work computers are functioning as intended, and the internet service will be restored to all departments within a few days,” Garcia said.