After computer shutdown, a Maryland county buys cyber protection. Is that enough?
A holiday cyber attack threw one Western Maryland county for a loop, altering some police operations, slowing down the office of the state’s attorney, and preventing online payments. Other jurisdictions in the state could learn lessons from the holiday hack of Washington County.
“You don’t want to be in a situation where you don’t know what you’re going to do if an incident happens,” said Markus Rauschecker, cybersecurity program director at the University of Maryland’s Center for Health and Homeland Security, an academic nonprofit consulting firm that advises local governments dealing with cyber incidents.
Rauschecker, also a member of the Maryland Cybersecurity Council, a group led by the state’s Attorney General and established by law to improve cybersecurity in Maryland, said each jurisdiction should have a plan, which “outlines the exact roles and responsibilities that every entity has with respect to cyber incident response.”
Months after the Thanksgiving Day incident, Washington County officials have tried to move forward, with the commissioners purchasing a pricey cyber protection system earlier this year, but the question remains: Is the county better prepared today than it was then?
Washington County Board of Commissioners President John Barr did not consent to questions during a break in the July 11 county commissioners meeting. Questions were referred to the county’s public relations department, which responded by email to several questions, including one asking what the county is doing going forward to protect citizens’ information.
“Information privacy and security are among the County’s highest priorities,” said Danielle Weaver, a county spokeswoman, in an email. “We have strict security measures in place to protect information in our care.
“Upon discovery (of) this incident, we quickly took steps to investigate and respond, including reviewing and enhancing our existing policies and procedures to reduce the likelihood of a similar future event,” Weaver said. “Washington County continues to review and enhance our cybersecurity posture by implementing additional safeguards.”
Those safeguards were not indicated in the email response…
