Cyberattack disables DMV emissions testing
It remains unknown when the state Department of Motor Vehicles can resume emissions testing after a cyberattack knocked the system offline last week.
On March 30, Applus Technologies detected and stopped the attack, which the company said temporarily interrupted the system. The company said its first priority was locking down the entire system.
“We take very seriously our responsibility to provide the highest quality, most reliable vehicle inspection and emissions testing services to our customers and we pledge to have service restored as quickly as possible,” CEO Darrin Greene said in a statement.
Applus Tech said it is still investigating whether anyone’s information was at risk after the attempted malware attack.
“It is too early to offer anything specific, but it is also inappropriate to speculate at this time,” the company said.
The FBI was contacted once the company learned of the attack.
Applus Tech said the issue has impacted eight states.
Among the impacted states is Connecticut, which continues to report issues with its DMV services as of Monday, specifically the emissions program. Officials said law enforcement agencies have been told not to ticket drivers with expired emissions while testing is down.
“Our technical team, assisted by independent forensic experts, is working around the clock to resolve this issue in order to restore the program to full operations,” Applus Tech said.
But it remains unknown when the system will be restored.
“We do know it will not be a matter of hours or days,” Applus Tech said. “It is important to note that we want to ensure we have resolved all issues before restarting the system in order to avoid any additional delays or inconvenience once the programs are back up and running.”
The company said it must ensure “every component of the system is free from malware.” There will be a testing process to ensure things are operating normally before the programs are brought back online.