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North St. Paul approves legal and forensic contracts after reported email compromise
Summary
The North St. Paul City Council approved contracts with McDonald Hopkins and a forensic IT team to investigate a business-email-compromise incident and assess legal notification obligations; the council voted to proceed and directed staff to begin the investigation.
The North St. Paul City Council on April 24 approved contracts with the law firm McDonald Hopkins and an associated forensic IT team to investigate a reported business-email-compromise incident affecting the city.
A city staff member told the council the emergency session was called "in response to a potential ongoing cyber concern," and said McDonald Hopkins would assist in analyzing the incident and evaluating the city's legal obligations to notify individuals or regulators if personal information may have been disclosed. "We do have IT coverage or cyber security coverage through the League of Minnesota Cities," the staff member said, adding the city expects that policy to cover costs beyond the deductible. Contract cost figures were not specified in the record.
Council members moved and seconded the measures and approved both contracts by voice vote. The record shows Council members Woods and McKenzie and Mayor Mange present and that Council members Nordby/Norby and Schweer were absent. The council authorized staff to execute the McDonald Hopkins agreement and to engage the firm’s IT investigative team, referenced in the record as ERIT advisors (also referred to at one point as "ARIT"), to perform forensic IT services and report back to the city.
The contracts, as described by staff, set out the roles and expectations for each party and outline costs; the transcript does not include dollar amounts or detailed contract terms. Council directions were procedural and limited to approving the contracts and permitting staff to proceed with the forensic investigation and legal review. The meeting concluded after the votes and a motion to adjourn.
Next steps noted in the record: city staff will move forward with the forensic IT investigation under the retained contracts and report findings to the council; any formal notifications to affected individuals or regulators will be evaluated as part of McDonald Hopkins' legal review.
