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FEBRUARY 3, 2023
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
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AGH network hijacked by cyberthieves Ransomware locks out all personnel, as criminals demand payment for key
MALLORY PANUSKA/OCEAN CITY TODAY
Re-decking work is running a week ahead of schedule.
B’walk work rushes ahead toward final phase finish By Mallory Panuska Staff Writer (Feb. 3, 2023) Ocean City officials have entered the home stretch of the ongoing re-decking of the downtown Boardwalk. “We currently have the end in sight,” City Engineer Paul Mauser
said of the complete removal and replacement of the surface boards from the pier to 15th Street. The second and final phase of the project, which anyone who has strolled the walkway in the past few months has surely noticed, began in See BOARDWALK Page 4
By Mallory Panuska and Stewart Dobson (Feb. 3, 2023) Atlantic General Hospital officials and federal authorities continue to investigate the cause and effect of a cybersecurity attack that seized control of the hospital’s computer network Sunday and continues to hold it for ransom. “Atlantic General Hospital is experiencing a ransomware event within our network,” Toni Keiser, the hospital’s vice president of public relations, said in an email Monday afternoon. “We are working diligently to investigate the source of this disruption, confirm its impact on our systems, and to restore full functionality to our systems as soon as possible. The incident has caused network outage issues with limited patient interruption.” A ransomware attack is when hackers plant encrypted files in a computer system that lock out the network’s owner. The perpetrators then demand payment for the keys to unlock the encryptions. Keiser said in another email on Tuesday that information technology personnel alerted hospital administrators to the issue early Sunday morning. She said officials have been
Ransomware brings networks to total standstill.
“working around the clock” since to restore the system. In the meantime, the hospital has employed “downtime procedures,” which means staff are using other means to handle information that is not dependent on the central computer system. Keiser said AGH department heads, administrators and staff are following plans to care for patients safely and maintain hospital operations using non-network practices. The focus of the procedures is “to ensure patient safety and continuity See FAKE Page 4
AGH NOT TO BLAME, WE’RE ALL AT RISK — PAGE 46