Baltimore’s 911 dispatch system was apparently hacked over the weekend and authorities have temporarily shut down the system. Confirming to The Baltimore Sun, the mayor’s office said that the system was digitally infiltrated early Saturday morning. At this time, there are no additional details provided due to ongoing investigation.
We don’t know how this particular system was vulnerable to intrusion at this time. City personnel identified a “limited breach” of the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) that automatically routes emergency requests to dispatches. Because of this, the department switched over to manual mode while it isolated the affected server and was taken offline. The CAD system was fully restored by 2AM on Sunday.
While some may think that this type of breach isn’t on the level of some others that have occurred like law enforcement arrest records, this still compromises crucial civil infrastructure because it’s the dispatch system. An FBI spokesman told The Baltimore Sun that they are aware of the CAD breach and have provided technical assistance into the issue.
