Maine Fire Department System Hobbled By Ransomware

A computer virus led to the destruction of files at the Salisbury Fire Department and forced some staffers to resort to pen and paper.

While Salisbury didn’t receive a ransom demand, the malicious software involved bore the hallmarks of crippling ransomware that required other local agencies to fork over money in exchange for access to locked files.

About two weeks ago, the desk computer of Chief Rick Souliotis began acting up. “We shut down the computer so we could reboot,” he said. “When we turned it back on, it just started to download a ton of stuff.”

A computer consultant was called in.

“He took my computer and cleaned it completely,” Souliotis said. “I was getting emails like you wouldn’t believe. He cleaned them all off the first day. The next day the emails started again and had to be cleaned off again. We didn’t open any of the emails, so I don’t know what they said.”

Eventually, the department just took the computerized dispatch center offline.

“We started recording everything by hand on paper, the way it used to be done,” Souliotis said.

Although the department has an automatic tape backup system, it did not automatically back up text documents. Flash drives were in the office, but, as often happens, they were not used religiously because the computers seemed to be stable.