Anne Arundel County makes progress in recovery efforts after cyber incident
Anne Arundel County is making progress with its recovery efforts after a cyber incident that impacted public service and government buildings in late February.
Leaders specified that this was not a cyber attack, and said they were limiting the amount of information shared publicly so as not to tip off "potential threat actors."
The incident, which impacted the county on Feb. 23, came from an outside source, officials said.
County buildings reopened on Feb. 25, but the investigation is ongoing.
Following the incident, officials limited internet access for employees as a precautionary measure.
On Friday, County Executive Steuart Pittman said access to the internet was restored for onsite employees for certain business processes.
Cyber investigation
After the incident, the county partnered with its Office of Information Technology, public safety officials, cyber security specialists and each of its departments to conduct an investigation.
In early March, officials said they made progress in securing the systems impacted by the cyber incident. By then, most county services were back online, and some offices were operating under temporary manual processes.
Leaders have not shared who is behind the incident or what specific operations were targeted.
"We will provide more information on what occurred, which operations were affected, and the steps we are taking to strengthen our cybersecurity once it is appropriate. In the meantime, our priority continues to be restoring services in an orderly and secure manner."
It's unclear if any data was breached during the incident.
Increase in cyber incidents
Markus Rauschecker, Executive Director of the University of Maryland's Center for Health and Homeland Security, said there has been an uptick in cyber incidents targeting municipalities and healthcare systems.
"Cyber criminals are smart," Rauschecker said. "They know to go after high-profile targets like local governments and hospitals because these institutions provide critical services and they hold a lot of sensitive information."
