Another city, another ransomware attack. Cities and municipalities continue to be targeted with ransomware campaigns. Fortunately, in this case, essential services such as fire, police, Emergency Medical Services and 311 service were still operational despite the attack. According to a tweet by Mayor Bernard Young, Baltimore shut down its servers in response to the ransomware attack, and preliminarily, it does not appear that any “personal data has left the system.”
City hall personnel were instructed to disconnect their computers from the Internet as there were reports that the ransomware was spreading from computer to computer. Baltimore’s Department of Public Works suspended late water bill fees, and its customer service and support were down and unable to assist customers with water billing issues. The Baltimore Department of Transportation was also affected due to network and email outages.