Digital Forensics Dispatch

Maryland Health Department COVID Dashboard Suffers Ransomware Attack

January 27, 2022

According to a recent article on BaltimoreSun.com, the Maryland Health department confirmed that what it had initially described simply as a network security breach was in fact a ransomware incident.

The ransomware was apparently linked to the month plus long outages of various state web services including the COVID Dashboard. This attack coincided with some of the worst parts of the Omicron variant COVID wave in Maryland, exacerbating issues further. Luckily the health department states that because the attack was caught relatively early, they were able to isolate its effects and keep data from leaking.

Chip Stewart, Maryland’s Chief Information Security Officer, pointed out that Maryland was not alone in having its health services targeted as of late saying “health and hospital systems are increasingly being targeted by malicious actors during the pandemic.”

While the Health Department is keeping many of the details of the attack under wraps as the investigation continues, they were forthcoming in confirming a ransom request had been made but that they had refused to pay, a move most cybersecurity professionals would likely encourage.

Email:    Phone: 703.359.0700
Digital Forensics/Cybersecurity/Information Technology
https://senseient.com/services/digital-forensics