A ransomware attack in early November against the company that owns Anderson County’s “Code Red Emergency Notification System” has resulted in the entire system to be shutdown nationwide. Anderson County Emergency Management Officials are now scrambling to find a replacement system. Anderson County Preparedness Director, Sarah Burkhart, told county commissioners that she is considering a system called Everbridge, which is used by a number of counties surrounding Anderson County, including Franklin, Miami, Johnson, Douglas, Lyon, and more. Those counties rely on Everbridge as their primary public alert system, particularly for severe weather and public safety incidents.
Kansas emergency managers have cited the system’s reliability and ability to handle high message volumes during tornado outbreaks as key advantages over other systems. Burkhart promised more information on Everbridge at the next meeting.
