Becker County is moving quickly to protect residents’ emergency communications after a nationwide cyberattack compromised the CodeRED alert system, a platform widely used to issue severe weather warnings, public safety notices, and other critical alerts.
The Becker County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday that sensitive user information—including names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and passwords associated with CodeRED profiles—may have been exposed in the breach. The incident affected communities across the country and was traced to a targeted attack on CodeRED’s vendor, OnSolve.
Due to the severity of the breach, Becker County is transitioning immediately from CodeRED to a new platform, Crisis24. The Sheriff’s Office says the switch is being made to ensure the highest level of security and reliability for emergency alerts.
During the transition, residents will continue receiving Wireless Emergency Alerts and IPAWS notifications through partner agencies to prevent any interruption in emergency messaging.
Authorities are urging anyone who previously used CodeRED to take precautions, including changing any passwords similar to those used on their CodeRED account, ensuring emergency alerts are enabled on their mobile devices, and following official county and public safety social media pages for updates.
OnSolve has confirmed that while user information may have been published, there is currently no evidence that the data has been used for identity theft or fraud. The company has since decommissioned the compromised system and moved customers to a newly built platform operating in a separate, non-affected environment.
The cyberattack occurred in November, and investigators believe it was conducted by an organized cybercriminal group. The Sheriff’s Office emphasized that the breach did not impact any other county systems.
Officials say rising cybersecurity threats nationwide have contributed to incidents like this and stress that Becker County remains committed to maintaining secure and dependable emergency communication systems.
The Sheriff’s Office thanked the public for its patience as the Crisis24 system is implemented.
You can find a QR code for Crisis24 below.
