Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has issued an executive order Tuesday activating cyber protection assets from the Minnesota National Guard in response to a cyberattack on the City of St. Paul.
“We are committed to working alongside the City of Saint Paul to restore cybersecurity as quickly as possible,” said Governor Walz. “The Minnesota National Guard’s cyber forces will collaborate with city, state, and federal officials to resolve the situation and mitigate lasting impacts. Above all, we are committed to protecting the safety and security of the people of Saint Paul.”
According to Walz's executive order, on Friday, July 25, 2025, St. Paul experienced a cyberattack that targeted critical systems and digital services. This cyberattack persisted through the weekend, causing significant disruptions and impairing St. Paul’s ability to provide vital services.
A news conference has just wrapped up with St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, explaining what they have learned so far.
"We now know that this was not a system glitch or technical error," says Carter. "This was a deliberate coordinated digital attack carried out by a sophisticated external actor, intentionally and criminally targeting our city's information infrastructure."
Carter said the city will also be under a state of emergency for now.
"To ensure our team has full and immediate access to every available resource, I am issuing a local declaration of emergency to give our teams the tools we need to move quickly and respond with the urgency this situation demands," said the mayor.
According to the city, most services do remain fully operational, like 911 call centers. But, the city notes that some may be temporarily delayed or disrupted due to limited system access such as online payment portals.
"Yesterday we initiated a full shutdown of our information systems as a defensive measure to contain the threat," said Carter. "The citywide service outages we've experienced, including loss of Wi-Fi in city buildings, disruptions to the city libraries, collections management systems, and suspension of network access for a wide range of internal applications are all the results of intentional, proactive actions taken to isolate and secure our systems."
The magnitude and complexity of the cybersecurity incident have exceeded the city’s response capacity, according to Walz.
The executive order activating this support takes effect immediately. Carter added the FBI is involved as well.