Hackers hit D.C. police closed-circuit camera network, city officials disclose

Washington Post ^ | 1/27/17 | Clarence Williams

[markomalley]

Hackers infected 70 percent of storage devices that record data from D.C. police surveillance cameras eight days before President Trump’s inauguration, forcing major citywide reinstallation efforts, according to the police and the city’s technology office.

City officials said ransomware left police cameras unable to record between Jan. 12 and Jan. 15. The cyberattack affected 123 of 187 network video recorders in a closed-circuit TV system for public spaces across the city, the officials said late Friday.

Brian Ebert, a Secret Service official, said the safety of the public or protectees was never jeopardized.

Archana Vemulapalli, the city’s Chief Technology Officer, said the city paid no ransom and resolved the problem by taking the devices offline, removing all software and restarting the system at each site.

[rightwingcrazy]

You oughtn’t to put security devices on a public network. That makes them insecurity devices.

[catnipman]

So why would the Russians be interested in videos of DC traffic jams?

[USNBandit]

I had to work with Metro PD during the inauguration. Not the most organized group of people.