11+ hour, 6+ min ago (547+ words) CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) " Stress is mounting for Pennsylvania home improvement contractors as a database used to verify their licenses remains down. It comes after a cyber incident disrupted the state attorney general's (AG) office website in August. The attack knocked out the AG's office website and communications among members. Later that month, the AG's office said it was caused by an outsider who was encrypting files and forcing the office to pay to regain access. Officials say no payment was ever made. Through August and September, officials say services were restored. However, the contractors' registration verification site is still down. Four months later, local contractors say the outage is leaving them without work and hurting the home improvement industry. Tod Reynolds with 1d Remedy says he is down $80,000 in sales compared to the same quarter last year. He believes that's…...

4+ mon, 1+ week ago (254+ words) Fire departments and county emergency centers across Pennsylvania are advising the public of a statewide 911 outage. (FILE) HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) " A preliminary report by Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) said that the intermittent outages of the 911 system in Pennsylvania were due to a defect in an operating system, not the result of a cyber attack. The outages happened earlier this month and resulted in people not being able to call 911 for emergencies. Instead, consumers were directed to call non-emergency dispatch numbers. The outage was restored the next day, which was Saturday, July 12. PEMA Executive Deputy Director Jeff Boyle released a statement, saying: Next Generation Core Services (NGCS) are systems and components used to route and process calls to 911 centers from phones to. They are located at two data centers within the NG911 system in Pennsylvania, according to PEMA. The system functions…...