Cybersecurity

“RobbinHood” ransomware takes down Baltimore City government networks

Systems at a number of Baltimore’s city government departments were taken offline on May 7 by a ransomware attack. As of 9:00am today, email and other services remain offline. Police, fire, and emergency response systems have not been affected by the attack, but nearly every other department of the city government has been affected in some way.

Calls to the city’s Office of Information Technology are being answered by a recording stating, “We are aware that systems are currently down. We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

Lester Davis, a spokesperson for Baltimore’s Mayor’s office, told the Baltimore Sun’s Ian Duncanthat the attack was similar to one that hit Greenville, North Carolina, in April.

Baltimore Chief Information Officer Frank Johnson confirmed in a press conference today that the malware was "the very aggressive RobbinHood ransomware" and that the FBI had identified it as a "fairly new variant" of the malware. Several new variants of RobbinHood have emerged over the past month.