The city of Baltimore has been locked out of its online services for more than two weeks after thousands of government computers were infected with ransomware.
The hack, which was first discovered on 7 May, has shut down a number of government services, including those for paying tax, parking tickets and water bills, and has prevented employees from sending or receiving emails. The perpetrators, who have yet to be identified, have demanded a ransom payment in the form of bitcoin, however, the city's government has so far refused to comply.
According to US media reports, the hackers used ransomware called RobinHood, malware that makes it impossible to access server data without a digital key - a key only the hackers have.
In a ransom note obtained by the Baltimore Sun, seen via Vox, the hackers have demanded payment of 13 bitcoins, worth just under $100,000 at the time of writing.
"We've been watching you for days and we've worked on your systems to gain full access to your company and bypass all of your protections," the note said. "We won't talk more, all we know is MONEY! ... Hurry up! Tik Tak, Tik Tak, Tik Tak!"
The hackers said that the ransom demand would increase if it wasn't paid in four days, adding that the locked information would be permanently locked if they were made to wait ten days for payment. However, both of these deadlines have now passed with the city government refusing to pay.
The government haven't given a timeline for when all services will be restored and, according to Mayor Bernard Young, it could take months before its back to normal.
"Our focus is getting critical services back online and doing so in a manner that ensures we keep security as one of our top priorities throughout this process," Young told the Guardian. "You may see partial services beginning to restore within a matter of weeks, while some of our more intricate systems may take months in the recovery process."
This is Baltimore's second ransomware attack in 15 months, following the targeting of the city's 911 and 311 phone systems last year.
The city of Atlanta was also hit by a cyber attack last year, which saw employees shutout of digital civic services, reportedly costing 17 million to fix.
-
M&S suspends online sales as 'cyber incident' continuesNews Marks & Spencer (M&S) has informed customers that all online and app sales have been suspended as the high street retailer battles a ‘cyber incident’.
-
Manners cost nothing, unless you’re using ChatGPTOpinion Polite users are costing OpenAI millions of dollars each year – but Ps and Qs are a small dent in what ChatGPT could cost the planet
-
Ransomware attacks are rising — but quiet payouts could mean there's more than actually reportedNews Ransomware attacks continue to climb, but they may be even higher than official figures show as companies choose to quietly pay to make such incidents go away.
-
Cleo attack victim list grows as Hertz confirms customer data stolen – and security experts say it won't be the lastNews Hertz has confirmed it suffered a data breach as a result of the Cleo zero-day vulnerability in late 2024, with the car rental giant warning that customer data was stolen.
-
‘Phishing kits are a force multiplier': Cheap cyber crime kits can be bought on the dark web for less than $25 – and experts warn it’s lowering the barrier of entry for amateur hackersNews Research from NordVPN shows phishing kits are now widely available on the dark web and via messaging apps like Telegram, and are often selling for less than $25.
-
Healthcare systems are rife with exploits — and ransomware gangs have noticedNews Nearly nine-in-ten healthcare organizations have medical devices that are vulnerable to exploits, and ransomware groups are taking notice.
-
Alleged LockBit developer extradited to the USNews A Russian-Israeli man has been extradited to the US amid accusations of being a key LockBit ransomware developer.
-
February was the worst month on record for ransomware attacks – and one threat group had a field day
News February 2025 was the worst month on record for the number of ransomware attacks, according to new research from Bitdefender.
-
CISA issues warning over Medusa ransomware after 300 victims from critical sectors impactedNews The Medusa ransomware as a Service operation compromised twice as many organizations at the start of 2025 compared to 2024
-
Warning issued over prolific 'Ghost' ransomware groupNews The Ghost ransomware group is known to act fast and exploit vulnerabilities in public-facing appliances
