Baltimore IT head apologizes for ransomware attack response

Baltimore’s chief information technology official has apologized to city leaders for the response to a cyberattack that has crippled the city for a month.

The Baltimore Sun reports Frank Johnson offered his “sincere apologies” to city council members Friday during a public meeting in which they said residents and city agency leaders did not receive information about the attack fast enough.

The computer servers were hit by the ransomware attack May 7. Officials quickly shut down most servers, and services like online payments and email were affected.

City Councilman Zeke Cohen told Johnson the lack of details caused some of his constituents “enormous distress.”

City officials have refused a demand to pay the equivalent of $76,000 in bitcoin in response to the attack, which used a ransomware variant called RobbinHood.

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Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com