LOCAL

County sets up temporary website in cybersecurity incident; some services remain down

Dave McMillion
The Herald-Mail

Washington County officials announced late Monday afternoon they had set up temporary websites and other temporary services to help residents conduct county government business while the county deals with an ongoing cybersecurity incident.

Among the temporary services is a county government website.

The county said in a news release that its top priority is making sure county residents are safe during the ordeal and to help them to connect with county services.

Background:Washington County cybersecurity issue impacts some functions: What we know

Updates, according to the release, include:

  • County residents should go to the temporary Washington County website for incident updates and the most current information on the availability of county government services.
  • Application documents for the Washington County FY23 Surplus Funding Nonprofit Assistance Program grant and the Community Organization Funding grant can be downloaded on a temporary grant management webpage.
  • Citizens can access and register for all Washington County Parks and Recreation programs by viewing or downloading a Winter Rec Guide. The public can also call Monday through Friday at 240-313-2805 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
  • Information concerning flights, events, and ticket sale hours for the Hagerstown Regional Airport can be found by visiting a temporary airport webpage.
  • Credit card payments for utility bills are being accepted by phone. The public can also call the county's division of budget and finance Monday through Friday at 240-313-2317 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
  • The treasurer’s office is accepting real estate property tax, personal property tax, and utility payments if paid by check.
  • Although most county phone services remain unaffected and functional, phone services at the Washington County Circuit Courthouse have been impacted.
  • Emergency 911 calls remain functional.
  • Certain county services remain unavailable, including processing or issuance of permits and acceptance of some financial payments, including taxes. Citizens should call the respective department they are trying to reach before visiting county offices to see if their issue will be able to be addressed.

"We thank our community for their continued patience. We are continuing with incident response efforts to assess the overall impact and get county services back online as safely and quickly as possible. We remain committed to serving our residents and ensuring prompt delivery of county services," the release said.

Is the Washington County Public Schools network impacted? How about Hagerstown?

Washington County Public Schools has not been affected by the cybersecurity incident, spokesperson Erin Anderson said Tuesday afternoon.

"WCPS’ Technology department has taken proactive steps to monitor our data and networks," she said in an email.

Earlier Tuesday, Hagerstown City Administrator Scott Nicewarner said that any link the city government had with the county government "was terminated" on Thanksgiving Day when the county notified the city of the cybersecurity incident.

The city has "workarounds" and hasn't "lost any functionality," Nicewarner said. "It's a little bit more manual, but we're communicating."