{"id":105206,"date":"2024-04-18T00:00:35","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T00:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/emergency-services-a-likely-target-for-cyberattacks-warns-dhs\/"},"modified":"2024-04-18T00:00:35","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T00:00:35","slug":"emergency-services-a-likely-target-for-cyberattacks-warns-dhs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/emergency-services-a-likely-target-for-cyberattacks-warns-dhs\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency services a likely target for cyberattacks, warns DHS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(WASHINGTON) — 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 \u2013 and any vulnerability in those critical networks can expose victims to a multitude of dangerous ripple effects.<\/p>\n

The analysis, compiled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and obtained by ABC News, outlines concerns that the Emergency Service Sector can be exploited and mined for sensitive data, in turn hampering medical and law enforcement services and posing an ongoing threat to personal information and public safety.<\/p>\n

“Cybercriminal exploitation of data stolen during ransomware attacks against the Emergency Service Sector (ESS) likely poses a persistent criminal threat due to the exposure and availability of victims\u2019 personal information,” according to the April 10 bulletin.<\/p>\n

Ransomware attacks have \u201cdisrupted the networks of police department and 911 call center operations,\u201d the bulletin continued, putting computer-aided dispatching services out of commission and forcing emergency services \u201cto revert to manual dispatching to sustain their operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once stolen, potentially sensitive personal information and police records can be leaked, sold or otherwise used by the attackers \u201cto facilitate additional crimes \u2014 including extortion, identity theft, and swatting,\u201d the DHS bulletin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhereas cyberattacks were once considered to be a technology issue, today they\u2019re considered a threat to the very operations of law enforcement and other public safety agencies,\u201d said John Cohen, the former intelligence chief at the Department of Homeland Security, now an ABC News contributor.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine 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,\u201d Cohen added. \u201cIf a foreign terrorist group, or a nation state, can tie up law enforcement responses by targeting their 911 call center, or police departments can’t gain access to investigative or other important information \u2013 that will hamper their emergency response, and aid a threat actor in achieving their operational objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

And because of how fundamental and highly sensitive emergency systems are, and the availability of personally identifiable information they include, they may strike cyber criminals as particularly attractive targets to extort, the DHS bulletin said, due to “the possible perception that ESS entities are motivated to pay ransoms to ensure continuity of services.”<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a police department, or fire department, or any emergency service to be hijacked in any way, it\u2019s a big problem for public safety and, additionally, you have to have a lot of resources devoted to addressing it. And it can also prevent us from doing investigations,\u201d said Robert Boyce, an ABC News contributor and retired chief of detectives in the New York Police Department.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, domestic extremists that remain emboldened to attack are also adopting more blended ideological grievances, intelligence analysts have found, making it increasingly difficult for authorities to identify the motivations behind attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we\u2019re going into election season, there is increasing concern that local communities will experience a combination of cyber information operations and physical attacks simultaneously. The physical activities, to disrupt the election process, and the cyber activities to disrupt the ability of local officials to respond,\u201d Cohen said.<\/p>\n

In the 21st century, such threat actors are aided by a mushrooming array of technological advances that offer new, creative tools \u2013 like cyberattacks.<\/p>\n

In January, a cyberattack hit the department of emergency communications in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, affecting its computer-aided 911 system \u2013 forcing dispatchers to use pen and paper to take information from callers, according to ABC station WPVI.<\/p>\n

The same month, the computer system in Fulton County, Georgia, was hacked, paralyzing many government services and causing aftereffects that persisted for weeks.<\/p>\n

State, local, tribal and territorial governments \u201cmanage the majority of ESS networks and are among the groups ransomware actors most often victimize, yet most do not have the resources to independently improve their cybersecurity posture,” according to the DHS bulletin.<\/p>\n

Further, emergency services \u201coften rely\u201d on state, local, tribal and territorial government networks that \u201cuse legacy information and operational technology systems \u2013 the replacement of which can be prohibitively expensive or disruptive to operations\u2014and lack sufficiently trained and resourced information technology and cybersecurity personnel,\u201d the bulletin said. It urged a \u201ccollaborative, cross-jurisdictional approach to cybersecurity and prioritizing cyber hygiene best practices\u201d to shore up the vital networks against \u201cunsophisticated network intrusions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood preparation is good prevention,\u201d Cohen told ABC News. \u201cThe threat environment is volatile and complex, and the level of preparation that\u2019s taking place at the state and local levels far exceeds anything that I’ve seen in my 40-plus years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — 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 \u2013 and any vulnerability in those critical networks can expose victimsRead More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,31,2],"tags":[273,271,276,274,270,123,275,133,124,272,102,103],"yoast_head":"\nEmergency services a likely target for cyberattacks, warns DHS - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TALK, DONE RIGHT\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/emergency-services-a-likely-target-for-cyberattacks-warns-dhs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Emergency services a likely target for cyberattacks, warns DHS - 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