Cyberattack leaves Maine drivers with breathalyzer test systems unable to start vehicles

PORTLAND (WGME)– A cyberattack has shut down a nationwide breathalyzer test system found in vehicles of OUI offenders, impacting thousands of drivers in Maine and 45 other states.

Intoxalock is the company targeted by the attack.

Once the device is installed, drivers have to pass a breathalyzer test before they can start their vehicle. It won’t start if your blood alcohol is .02 or higher. But since the cyber breach shut its entire system down on Saturday, anyone with one of the devices cannot start their car.

One Mainer with an Intoxalock device says he got an OUI and is required by the court to have one.

“Anybody that’s locked out has remained locked out. There’s people that haven’t been able to drive since Saturday, if that’s their only vehicle,” he said.

CBS13 has been unable to reach the company. When you call, you get a recorded message.

“Intoxalock is investigating a cybersecurity event that was recently identified and impairing our ability to service customers.”

“Sunday evening, the company put out a notification that they’d been cyber-attacked,” a Mainer with an Intoxalock device said.

In online messages, Intoxalock says hackers are flooding its servers to stop them from functioning, and that the nationwide outage has affected installations, removals, calibrations and account access. The company says despite the attack, user data is secure, but it did not say if there was a ransom demand.

One driver in Maine works from home and his wife has a car, so he doesn’t need his truck to get to work.

“I’m really lucky. A lot of other people are not so lucky,” he said. “There’s some people who live out in the country that don’t have access to public transportation that are just totally up the creek.”

Intoxalock says they are working as quickly as possible to resolve this issue and get these devices working again.

However, if you have one of these installed in your car, you can’t start it or drive it. The Secretary of State’s Office oversees Maine’s Ignition Interlock Device Program. The Deputy Secretary of State says they are aware of the issue and are in contact with the company.

The Deputy Secretary says anyone wishing to replace their device can find a list of vendors and installation sites in Maine on the BMV website.

For updates on Intoxalock’s progress dealing with this cyberattack, go to learn.intoxalock.com/status. You can also text (424) 724-4689 for urgent service inquiries.