Buncombe County’s primary emergency alert system is offline after a cyberattack on OnSolve CodeRED, the third-party vendor that operates BCAlerts. The county announced the outage in a Tuesday news release, saying the breach may have exposed user information, including names, phone numbers, email addresses and passwords used to create BCAlert profiles.
BCAlerts is the system residents rely on for real-time notifications about severe weather, road closures, evacuations and other urgent public safety information.
Residents who use the same password for any other personal or business accounts are urged to change them immediately.
According to the county, the attack affects BCAlerts’ phone, text and email notifications but does not affect 911 service or emergency response operations. No other county systems were impacted.
Buncombe County can still send evacuation alerts through the federal Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, or IPAWS. Any requests from local responders will be routed through North Carolina Emergency Management or FEMA.
The outage is part of a wider cyberattack affecting agencies nationwide. OnSolve said there is no indication that the compromised data has been published online.
While the system remains offline, the county says it will share urgent updates through buncombecountync.gov, its official social media pages, Nextdoor’s emergency features, local news outlets and community partners. Officials say door-to-door notifications may also be used in an emergency. Users with questions can contact CodeRED support at crsupport@crisis24.com.
