'Cyber Incident' Answers Promised After Issue Resolved In Anne Arundel

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman promised to share specifics about the "ongoing cyber incident of external origin affecting county services" once the issue is fully resolved.

Pittman's administration previously declined to answer Patch's questions on if this is a cyber attack or if the county's systems are being held hostage until a ransom is paid.

"While we have made some progress with securing and restoring our systems, we cannot share more details about the incident yet for several reasons: we are still working to understand the scope and impact of the incident, we do not want to potentially provide information to the potential threat actors, and we are working to recover from the incident as quickly as we can," Pittman said in a Wednesday press release.

An investigation is still underway with the Anne Arundel County Office of Information Technology, public safety officials, cybersecurity specialists and each department.

"When it is prudent to do so, we intend to share the full details surrounding the incident, including how it happened, departments and systems that were specifically impacted, as well as what we are doing to learn from the incident and to prepare for the future. We cannot yet give a timeline for when we will have recovered from the incident. Rest assured, we want to answer these questions and provide a full picture of what happened," Pittman said.

The cyber incident started Saturday.

County offices were closed Monday, but they reopened Tuesday.

The majority of services are back online, but some employees continue to work from home, as internet and system access are limited out of an abundance of caution.

"The County team is focusing on returning services in priority order. Most services are available to County residents, but there remain some impacts where we have established manual processes. These manual processes are temporary and work around the missing technology piece which will be restored as soon as possible. While we cannot provide a full list of services, we would like to provide information about the status of some public-facing services," the county executive stated.

Pittman said:

• County residents who are concerned about the due date for their water or tax bill can reach out to the Office of Finance at 410-222-1734. The County will make accommodations as appropriate for any late payments resulting from system disruptions.
• The County’s cashier offices are open and can accept payment by check or cash, but we are not yet accepting credit cards online or in person. Cashier offices are located at:
  • 44 Calvert Street, Annapolis, MD
  • 101 North Crain Highway, Glen Burnie, MD
  • 2664 Riva Road, Annapolis, MD
• Customers can pay by phone at 1-833-277-8723 with credit card and e-check. Convenience fees apply.
• The Permit Center located at 2664 Riva Road in Annapolis is open and accepting permit applications.
• County parks and recreational centers remain open.
• Senior Centers are open, as are the Aging and Disabilities customer service centers.
• Throughout the incident, the County 911 and 311 services have remained operational.

The Anne Arundel County Public Library and Anne Arundel County Public Schools were not affected. Both have remained open throughout the situation.

"I want to thank our Office of Information Technology for working around the clock to restore services, our Office of Emergency Management for leading us through our Cyber Incident Coordination Plan, and all our county staff who have found innovative ways to continue delivering services to our residents during this disruption," Pittman said.

Related: County Offices Reopening After 'Cyber Incident' In Anne Arundel