Hackers used ransomware to infect 70 percent of the storage devices used to record data from Washington D.C.'s police surveillance cameras just eight days before Inauguration Day, keeping the department's cameras from being able to record between January 12-15, the city's technology office and police department reported Friday.
According to Interim Police Chief Peter Newsham, police worked with the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer [OCTO], and there was no "significant impact" overall from the attack, reports The Washington Post.
However, the incident forced citywide systems reinstallations, after affecting 123 of the 187 network video cameras, reports the police and OCTO. According to Secret Service spokesman Brian Elbert, safety was not in jeopardy for either the public or officials under protection.
Ransomware infects computers, usually when users click links or open email attachments, and then proliferates among a system. Ordinarily, the malware locks files or computers until their users pay a ransom to release the information.
CTO Archana Vemulapalli said no ransom was paid, and workers solved the problem by first taking the devices offline, and then removing all software before restarting the system at all sites.
The attack did not reach DC computer networks, said Vemulapalli, and was confined only with the police's CCTV cameras.
Police discovered the issue on Jan. 12, when it was determined four camera locations were not recording properly, and after a citywide sweep found more infected cameras, Vemulapalli told The Post.
The incident is under investigation, and city officials would not confirm suspects.
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