Baltimore’s Emergency Dispatch System Hit by Cyberattack
Baltimore’s computer-assisted dispatch (CAD) system, which supports 911 and emergency call operations, suffered a "limited breach" over the weekend, forcing city officials to switch to manual processes. The incident was detected early Sunday morning, according to Frank Johnson, Baltimore’s chief information officer.
During the outage, call center staff manually recorded and relayed caller details to dispatchers after the affected server was taken offline to contain the threat. The system was fully restored by early Monday approximately 17 hours after the breach was identified. Johnson confirmed that emergency services remained operational throughout, though temporarily reliant on manual procedures.
The attack marks the second major cyber incident targeting a U.S. city in a week, following Atlanta’s ransomware attack, which disrupted municipal services, including bill collection and airport Wi-Fi. However, a senior U.S. cybersecurity official stated there was no evidence linking the two incidents.
A spokesperson for Baltimore’s mayor’s office clarified that the 911 dispatch system itself was not compromised but declined to disclose whether data was stolen, if other city services had been targeted, or if suspects had been identified, citing an ongoing investigation. The FBI confirmed awareness of the breach and provided technical assistance, though its Baltimore office did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/baltimore-s-911-emergency-system-hit-cyberattack-n860876
Baltimore City Office of Emergency Management cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/baltimoreoem
"id": "BAL1782779427",
"linkid": "baltimoreoem",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "3/2018",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization's existence"{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'Public Safety',
'location': 'Baltimore, Maryland, USA',
'name': 'City of Baltimore',
'type': 'Government'}],
'date_detected': '2023-03-26T00:00:00Z',
'date_resolved': '2023-03-27T00:00:00Z',
'description': 'Baltimore’s computer-assisted dispatch (CAD) system, which '
'supports 911 and emergency call operations, suffered a '
"'limited breach' over the weekend, forcing city officials to "
'switch to manual processes. The incident was detected early '
'Sunday morning, and the system was fully restored by early '
'Monday approximately 17 hours after the breach was '
'identified.',
'impact': {'downtime': '17 hours',
'operational_impact': 'Manual processes for emergency call '
'operations',
'systems_affected': 'Computer-assisted dispatch (CAD) system'},
'investigation_status': 'Ongoing',
'references': [{'source': 'CyberScoop'}],
'response': {'containment_measures': 'Affected server taken offline',
'law_enforcement_notified': 'Yes',
'recovery_measures': 'System fully restored',
'third_party_assistance': 'FBI'},
'title': 'Baltimore’s Emergency Dispatch System Hit by Cyberattack',
'type': 'Cyberattack'}