FBI Investigating Baltimore City Ransomware Attack, As Internal Network Continues To Have Issues
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The FBI is investigating a ransomware attack on Baltimore City's network, while city officials try to bring back the network to its full capacity.
Although city services are no longer are being affected, hackers are still accessing the system, according to Mayor Jack Young.
"These people are so sophisticated that their job is just to disrupt," Young said. "I wish they would use it for more good than they are for just bad in trying to extort money from cities and companies. It's just not right."
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It was discovered Tuesday that the system was taken offline, and technicians continue to work on fixing it.
Details not being released, but ransomware is a type of malware that prevents users from accessing their files unless they pay. Here's what the mayor wants you to know:
"No city services have been affected. People were able to get their cars at the towing yard, people come in and pay in cash or money orders or they can mail their payments in. So all the city is functioning. We're doing it a different way and the citizens of Baltimore are not being affected we just cannot get emails and those kinds of things," Young said. "We are moving forward and citizens should not notice anything other than they have to come in and do things manually."
The mayor said city employees are still working and the only change for them is they cannot access computers.
As for the ransom, Young said they won't be paying.
In a news conference, the City's Chief of Information Technology said that the FBI has confirmed this is a very aggressive ransomware.
