On May 7, 2019, most of Baltimore's government computer systems were infected with the aggressive ransomware variant RobbinHood. All servers, with the exception of essential services, were taken offline. In a ransom note, hackers demanded 13 bitcoin (roughly $76,280) in exchange for keys to restore access. The note stated that if the demands were not met within four days, the price would increase and within ten days the city would permanently lose all of the data. On May 25, security expert Nicole Perlroth speculated that the stolen NSA exploit EternalBlue was used to infiltrate the city's network vulnerabilities and initiate the attack, though in a memoir published in February 2021, Perlroth recanted her original statement after concluding that the exploit was not in fact responsible.
