Baltimore’s Government Held Hostage by Ransomware Attack

For the second meter in just over a year , Baltimore has fall dupe to a major cyberattack . Last year , hacker targeted the city’s911 emergency system , but this time around , the metropolis governing ’s files are being held hostage by ransomware .

First things first , if you live in the Baltimore field , vital exigency system like 911 and 311 rest operational . However , most of the city ’s servers wereshut down as a precautionafter the attack , and officials are shy when they ’ll be fully operable again .

Baltimore City Congress of Racial Equality essential services ( police , blast , EMS and 311 ) are still useable but it has been determined that the city ’s mesh has been infect with a ransomware computer virus . City employee are working diligently to determine the source and extent of the infection .

Photo: Getty Images

— Mayor Bernard C. Jack Young ( @mayorbcyoung)May 7 , 2019

fundamentally , hackers have infected the city government ’s computer with what was identified in apress conferenceby as “ the very aggressiveRobbinHoodransomware . ” It ’s also been confirmed that it ’s a relatively new variant of the malware . During the imperativeness league , city officials were ineffective to respond exactly how the ransomware was spread , citing an on-going Union investigation .

According to a Baltimore Sunreport , the ransomware works by employing a “ Indian file - locking ” virus to encrypt single file , which are then take hostage . The Sun also reports that in a ransom money note , hackers demand the city devote 3 Bitcoin ( about $ 17,600 ) per section , or 13 Bitcoin ( about $ 76,280 ) for the integral city .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

The hack also reportedly demanded the ransom be paid within four Clarence Day , at which level they warned the monetary value would go up . After 10 days , the cyber-terrorist say the files will be irretrievable , accord to the Sun .

So far , multiple Baltimore city departments have been affected by the closing . The Department of Public Works tweeted early Tuesday morning that its email were offline and that client service speech sound lines were inoperable . As a result , it ’s set aside former body of water bill fees as many citizens stay ineffective to pay their invoice . The Baltimore Police Department and the Department of Transportation have also beenreportedto have takings with their electronic mail and earpiece system . Meanwhile , multiple City Council hearings have also been canceled .

The electronic mail outage has also take down telephone set lines to Customer Support and Services , so for now we ’re unable to take calls to discuss water supply billing issues . Sorry for the inconvenience .

William Duplessie

— BaltimoreDPW ( @BaltimoreDPW)May 7 , 2019

In the meantime , Baltimore is resorting to the good , old - fashioned telephone to handle requests — even though some departmental phone lines are n’t on the dot work . The Office of the Inspector General , for instance , tweeted an alternative number that people could call as its common number was rendered inaccessible .

“ We just have to revert back to manual of arms , ” said Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. Jack Young at today’spress conference . He added that if the problem persisted longer than expected , he might have to require urban center employees who ca n’t do their employment to be “ go out and help us clean up the metropolis . ”

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away from proficient difficulties , the OIG is still accept Hotline calls directly to our role figure 443 - 984 - 3690 . Please DO NOT call the standard Hotline numbers or email us , as we do not have memory access . We are grateful for your livelihood and sympathy . Have a outstanding day!pic.twitter.com / Mrm7JTFuui

— Baltimore City OIG ( @OIG_Baltimore)May 8 , 2019

As for whether this could have been prevented by updating the metropolis ’s systems , Baltimore Chief Information Officer Frank Johnson was adamantine during the briefing that the city had require adequate measures .

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