Cyberattack Hits Maryland Department of Health; Government Agencies Increasingly Targets of Hackers

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BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The Covid-19 corruption metrics connected the Maryland Department of Health website person not been updated successful days with a informing that “MDH is experiencing a server outage. Data volition beryllium updated arsenic soon arsenic possible.”

It is portion of a cyberattack. Some pages person been redirected to the main authorities authorities web leafage portion servers are offline.

Update connected the cyber onslaught astatine the Maryland Department of Health •Servers volition stay offline retired of an abundance of caution
•Data updates volition resume arsenic soon arsenic possible⁰•No grounds astatine this clip that immoderate information compromised @wjz

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) December 6, 2021

One wellness attraction enforcement tweeted that radical are having occupation getting cardinal Medicaid accusation due to the fact that of the hack.

Someone from @MDHealthDept, delight hole your website. Most pages are not working, including the leafage that lets radical enroll successful Medicaid.https://t.co/NEZMskFtwy

— Ankit Gupta (@gankit) December 5, 2021

This has the hallmarks of a ransomware scheme. Cybersecurity advisor Terry Bazemore Junior, the Chief Operating Officer of Ey3 Technologies, said the authorities made the close determination shutting down parts of their website to halt the damage. “It’s an fantabulous archetypal measurement is to propulsion things down that whitethorn inactive beryllium vulnerable—potential vulnerabilities that whitethorn pb to further attacks and deeper attacks to wherever they tin enactment connected your web and bash things further,” Bazemore told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. “Typically, attackers privation to onslaught places that are going to person captious information and information wherever they cognize they request to marque split-second decisions—whether it could beryllium beingness oregon death—somewhere similar a wellness section oregon a hospital.”

The Maryland Department of Health says determination is nary grounds information has been compromised, and they person yet to corroborate whether immoderate hacker has hijacked their computers demanding money, which is what happened to Baltimore City 2 years ago. Criminals demanded $100,000 successful bitcoin.

The metropolis ended up spending $6 cardinal to get backmost online and astir $1 cardinal for security against aboriginal attacks. “The large question that companies oregon agencies are going to person to measure is to wage oregon not to pay,” Bazemore said.

Government is simply a predominant target. Last year, Baltimore County schools had to unopen down online learning aft a cyber attack. “It is sobering to spot however galore schoolhouse systems and section governments person been deed by this. And that’s not adjacent including section businesses and mom-and-pops and things similar that that person been hit,” helium said.

The Department of Health told WJZ successful a connection they are “working intimately with national and authorities instrumentality enforcement partners to code the incidental and to stitchery further information. Certain systems person been taken offline retired of an abundance of caution and different precautions person and volition beryllium taken.”

“The probe is ongoing, perchance affected employees and partners person been informed, and we volition supply further accusation arsenic circumstances warrant,” the bureau wrote.

Healthcare is often a people of hackers. A CBS News probe recovered much than 1 1000 hospitals were attacked past twelvemonth alone—with immoderate hackers adjacent shutting down equipment—and blamed for diligent deaths.

In 2020, hackers deed Greater Baltimore Medical Center affecting immoderate of their accusation exertion systems.