Emergency services are increasingly likely targets for cyberattacks, warns the Department of Homeland Security.
Calling 911 is meant to save lives. But the emergency service, and others like it, are also viewed as ripe targets for criminally minded cyber-attackers, according to a new federal assessment - and any vulnerability in those critical networks can expose victims to a multitude of dangerous ripple effects.
Ransomware attacks have "disrupted the networks of police department and 911 call center operations," the bulletin continued, putting computer-aided dispatching services out of commission and forcing emergency services "to revert to manual dispatching to sustain their operations." "Imagine the impact on local public safety if jail management systems were inoperable because of a cyberattack, that police communication capabilities were disrupted, that the public was unable to contact local police in an emergency, that detectives and investigators were unable to access sensitive case data," Cohen added.
The new federal analysis punctuates an already volatile moment in America, as partisan tensions seethe ahead of a high-stakes presidential election, multiple wars are being waged abroad, and political violence has already broken out overseas."As we're going into election season, there is increasing concern that local communities will experience a combination of cyber information operations and physical attacks simultaneously.
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