Residents of Buncombe County are currently experiencing a disruption in their primary emergency alert system due to a cyberattack. The third-party provider, OnSolve CodeRED, which manages the BCAlerts system, has been compromised, leading to the system going offline. The county highlighted this issue in a recent news release, warning that personal information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, and passwords linked with BCAlert profiles may have been exposed.
BCAlerts provides crucial real-time updates about weather changes, road conditions, evacuation orders, and other critical public safety information to the community. The current breach does not affect the county’s 911 services or emergency response systems, but it does impact notifications via phone, text, and email.
The county advises residents who have used the same password across different platforms to change these passwords immediately to safeguard their accounts.
Despite the outage, Buncombe County can still issue evacuation alerts through the federal Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS). These alerts will be channeled through North Carolina Emergency Management or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) upon local responders’ requests.
This incident is part of a broader cyberattack affecting various agencies nationwide. OnSolve has indicated that, currently, there is no evidence of the leaked data being distributed online.
While BCAlerts remains offline, the county plans to disseminate urgent information through multiple channels, including buncombecountync.gov, official social media platforms, Nextdoor’s emergency features, local news media, and community partners. In certain situations, direct door-to-door notifications might be employed. Residents seeking further assistance can reach out to CodeRED support at crsupport@crisis24.com.
