Pennsylvania Counties Still Restoring Systems After Cyber Incidents

Two Pennsylvania county governments — Bucks and Washington— reported some progress this week restoring computer systems and overcoming the effects of cyber incidents.

But both still have work to do to return to business-as-usual more than a week after they were hit.

The Bucks County Department of Emergency Communications has restored core functionality of its computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems for 911 calls following a nine-day outage.

Officials reported that staff brought the CAD system back online Tuesday afternoon, allowing emergency dispatchers to use the automated system for the first time since January 21 when a ransomware attack brought the system fully offline.

Dispatchers in the interim relied on backup systems to document and dispatch calls for service. At no point during the outage were the county’s 911 call-taking abilities interrupted, according to the county.

The county has also been able to restore its connectivity to state and federal databases containing criminal justice information.

There is still work to do to get back to full restoration, according to Emergency Services Director Audrey Kenny.

Bucks County officials have indicated that the ransomware group Akira is likely to have been responsible for the attack on the computer-aided emergency dispatch system. The county has shared its information with local, state and federal agencies.

Washington County

On January 24, about 140 miles away from Bucks County, the Washington County government also suffered a “critical incident,” rendering significant segments of its technology infrastructure inaccessible or inoperable.

The county has retained the services of outside counsel, Eckert Seamans, and a cyber security and digital data forensics firm, Sylint, to assist with this critical technology incident.

Washington County officials told the Observer-Reporter that they are making progress in a phased-in restoration of services, with the controller and treasurer offices now back in business and able to pay bills, issue paychecks and provide tax services. The elections office is also back online.

Washington County spokesman Patrick Geho told the newspaper that city employees are “working overtime to expedite” services.

The county courts depend on the county for their technology and have been totally disrupted by the breach. The courts are in an emergency mode as urged on January 28 by Gary Gilman, president judge of the judicial district, in a memo to court system leaders.

“To the extent practicable, court proceedings have been held; however, the administrative and due process protections are substantially impacted – orders cannot be prepared, filings and orders cannot be docketed, and service is unable to be performed as required by applicable rules,” Gilman wrote.

“It is unclear as to when the technology resources of the judicial district will be restored to an operable condition. There is a possibility that the judicial district will suffer some degree of data loss because of the critical incident,” he added.

Gilman reported that the court system lost access to electronic mail, computer network folders, Polycom and other video platforms, the digital audio recording system, the jury management system, the civil and orphans’ court case management systems, network-based printers, and the internet.

Also access to the Common Pleas Case Management System has been restricted. The district attorney of Washington County has not been able to access the internal case management system including case information or calendars for court appearances and/or deadlines. Resources for the public defender’s office have also been affected.

Gilman reported there had been “insufficient progress to ameliorate the issues” that include an inability to record proceedings before the Court of Common Pleas; inability to summon jurors; Inability to docket and process filings; and inability to conduct conferences or non-record proceedings by advanced communication technology.

Topics Cyber Washington Pennsylvania