Baltimore City Hall and Potter County hit with ransomware attacks

• The ransomware attack against the Baltimore City Hall has caused the city to shut down the majority of its servers.
• Ransomware attack hit Potter County on April 22, 2019, forcing the County to switch its operations to manual mode.

The networks of Baltimore City Hall and Potter County have been infected with ransomware, forcing the local authorities to shut down all its servers.

Baltimore City Hall ransomware attack

The ransomware attack against the Baltimore City Hall has caused the city to shut down the majority of its servers. Due to network issues, water bill fees for City customers have been suspended and the City’s Finance Department is no longer accepting cash payments.

However, the City Hall’s core services such as police, fire, EMS and 311 are operational. Upon learning the incident, City employees are investigating to determine the source and extent of the infection.

“At this time, we have seen no evidence that any personal data has left the system. Out of an abundance of precaution, the city has shut down the majority of its servers. We will provide updates as information becomes available,” Baltimore City Mayor Jack Young said in a statement,” BleepingComputer reported.

Potter County ransomware attack

Ransomware attack hit Potter County on April 22, 2019, forcing the County to switch its operations to manual mode. The County employees were forced to use pen and paper due to the shut down of the entire network.

“This is what we’re using now. Paper and pencil, we’re going old fashion around here. Seriously, that’s what we’re having to do. All of our calls that we’re taking and all of our reports that we’re doing we’re having to do by paper and pencil,” Potter County Sheriff Brian Thomas said.

• The County officials along with government agencies conducted a comprehensive investigation and found out that the County was infected with two ransomware strains.
• The investigation also revealed that the County’s computer system has been infected with ransomware since January.
• The County Clerk, District Clerk, and the Sheriff's Office were the most impacted ones.

However, the County managed to get some of its computers back online, and restored its email services and Internet access last week.

“Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner confirmed to us the malware is in fact ransomware. Judge Tanner said this is day 17 dealing with the ransomware problem, and the malware has likely been in the county's computer system since January,” KAMR Local 4 News tweeted.