A wave of ransomware attack hits hospitals and health care organisations across the United States amid the rise in coronavirus cases.
A wave of ransomware attack hits hospitals and health care organisations across the United States amid the rise in coronavirus cases.
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency disclosed a warning advisory Wednesday regarding the increased and imminent cybercrime threat to the U.S hospitals and healthcare providers.
"CISA, FBI, and (the Department of Health and Human Services) have credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers," the advisory stated. "CISA, FBI, and HHS are sharing this information to provide a notification to healthcare providers to ensure that they take precise and reasonable precautions to protect their networks from these threats."
According to the CNN report, the Trump administration said that several hospitals are targeted in the attacks from the past two days, and the federal government is investigating the attacks.
Hospitals in St. Lawrence Health Systems and the Sky Lakes Medical Center in Oregon confirmed to CNN that they were targeted in the attack over the past few days. During a press release on Thursday, The University of Vermont Health Network said that they are experiencing a “significant and ongoing system-wide network issue, and are investigating all possible causes including a malicious cyberattack.
Experts with Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm, said they recognized at least three attacks on Tuesday and one on Wednesday, where patients are getting shifted to other hospitals as a result.
"We are experiencing the most significant cybersecurity threat we've ever seen in the United States," Charles Carmakal, SVP and CTO of Mandiant, said. "An Eastern European financially motivated threat actor is deliberately targeting and disrupting U.S. hospitals, forcing them to divert patients to other healthcare providers. Patients may experience prolonged wait time to receive critical care."
Allan Liska, an intelligence analyst from the company Recorded Future, reported CNN that his firm knows of at least six attacks in the past 24 hours and “there are probably more.”
“It is the biggest thing we’ve ever seen. In terms of ransomware, and it’s crushing to see so many hospitals hit at the same time.”
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