Cyberattacks

More than three months after a computer system serving as a backbone of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice was hacked, many contractors providing services to at-risk and troubled youths remain unable to access the network.Efforts to bring the network back online were still ongoing as the state was hit with a second cyberattack that resulted in outages of the Florida Department of Health’s Vital Statistics System. The statewide system is used to process birth and death certificates, among other records.

Hackers broke into the computer network of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in Tallahassee, which runs the state's juvenile detention centers and programs to steer troubled kids away from crime. It led to a continuing shutdown of the digital backbone the agency uses to manage cases statewide.The department took some of its computer systems offline as early as March 29 due to what spokeswoman Amanda Slama described as an unspecified security concern, she confirmed in a statement Thursday afternoon, two days after a reporter’s initial inquiries about the matter.

The hacking of the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa and other utilities around the country is prompting new warnings from U.S. security officials at a time when states and the federal government are wrestling with how to harden water utilities against cyberattacks.The danger, officials say, is hackers gaining control of automated equipment to shut down pumps that supply drinking water or contaminate drinking water by reprogramming automated chemical treatments. Besides Iran, other potentially hostile geopolitical rivals, including China, are viewed by U.S. officials as a threat.

State university system officials are discussing plans to bolster information technology staff and are aiming to beef up schools’ cybersecurity.

Last month, Lee County’s computer systems were down for five days due to a cyberattack. While the county has yet to confirm the exact nature of the…