By Elishya Perera
WASHINGTON DC (CWBN)_ Federal agencies have issued a warning that cybercriminals are unleashing a major ransomware assault against the US healthcare system, which could damage patient care, as the nation continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a joint alert issued on Wednesday (Oct 28), the FBI and two federal agencies warned that they had “credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.” The alert said that cyber actors are targeting the healthcare sector with malware, which often leads to “ransomware attacks, data theft, and the disruption of healthcare services”.
The federal alert was co-authored by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Alex Holden, CEO of Hold Security, which has been closely tracking the ransomware in question for more than a year, said that it scrambles data into gibberish that can only be unlocked with software keys provided once targets pay up. Holden said he alerted federal law enforcement on Friday (Oct 23), after monitoring infection attempts at a number of hospitals.
According to him, the criminal group was discussing plans to try to infect more than 400 hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities, and was demanding exorbitant ransoms well above $10 million per target.
Criminals have been increasingly targeting the healthcare sector with ransomware during the pandemic.
Last month, Universal Health Services Inc., which operates more than 250 hospitals and other clinical facilities in the US, reported a cyber attack caused by malware, which compelled the hospital chain to “disconnected all systems and shut down the Network to prevent further propagation,” the hospital chain said in a statement. This hindered patient treatment as doctors and nurses, already burdened by the Coronavirus pandemic, were forced to rely on paper backup systems.
The United States remains the most affected nation by the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting more than half a million cases in a week, which brought the total number of infections to 8.8 million, and reported more than 225,000 deaths.
