Cyberattack on Florida Department of Health Disrupts Funeral Services Statewide
A ransomware attack on the Florida Department of Health, first detected on June 27, 2024, has significantly disrupted funeral services statewide. Initially thought to be a technical issue, the outage was attributed to a cybersecurity incident on July 3, 2024. The Vital Statistics System, which processes birth and death certificates, has been offline, forcing funeral homes to revert to manual processes and causing delays in issuing death certificates needed for burials, cremations, and insurance claims. The Department is working with law enforcement to resolve the issue, but no timeline for system restoration has been provided. There is currently no evidence that personal data has been compromised.