City Recovers Slowly Following Ransomeware Attack

Baltimore has been inching closer to restoring computer systems after a ransomeware attack on May 7.

• By Sydny Shepard
• May 24, 2019

The city of Baltimore is learning to live with the lasting affects of a ransomeware attack that took place on earlier this month while city officials take their time getting computer systems back online to ensure future municipal data security.

An official with the Baltimore mayor's office says the city's IT team is restoring computer systems slowly. The Baltimore Sun reports deputy chief of staff Sheryl Goldstein says the team has been split into two groups to help the city's recovery. 

She says one group is working to find the code that allowed hackers to lock city files, while the other is working to restore affected systems.

The computer systems were hit by a cyberattack on May 7 and city officials quickly shut down most servers. Services like online payments and email were affected. Most dramatically, the attack halted the city's real estate market because the finance department could not verify that outstanding debts lodged against properties had been cleared.

Officials have said hackers using the ransomeware variant RobbinHood demanded the city pay the equivalent of $76,000 in bitcoin, which Mayor Bernard Young says the city will not pay.