Maryland health department hit by cyberattack

Maryland authorities are investigating a cyberattack that took the state Department of Health offline this past weekend, as they determine if any information has been stolen.

“The Maryland Security Operations Center is investigating a network security incident involving the Maryland Department of Health. The Maryland Department of Information Technology, the Maryland Department of Health, and the Maryland Department of Emergency Management are working closely with federal and state law enforcement partners to address the incident and to gather additional information,” department spokesperson Andy Owen said in a statement to The Hill.

“Certain systems have been taken offline out of an abundance of caution and other precautions have and will be taken,” said Owen.

As of Monday morning, the department’s website redirects to the main Maryland state government website.

This attack comes just days after Maryland announced that three cases of the COVID-19 omicron variant had been detected in the state. The cases were found in people living in the Baltimore area, with two of the infected individuals coming from the same household.

“This is a rapidly evolving situation, and we will continue to keep Marylanders updated as new information becomes available,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said.

Earlier this year, the Maryland town of Leonardtown was taken offline due to a ransomware attack carried out through a breach in the Miami-based technology firm Kaseya. The ransomware gang REvil reportedly demanded $45,000 for each computer that was taken offline, though town officials did not consider paying.