The Ascension Hospital cyber attack continues to head much of this week’s news, particularly as it follows on both the Heritage healthcare cyber attack and the City of Wichita getting hit by LockBit this week. CNN is reporting that the BlackBasta ransomware group is behind the attack. This latest cyberattack has had significant effects in terms of patient care:
The cyberattack on Ascension, a St. Louis-based nonprofit network that includes 140 hospitals in 19 states, is also disrupting access to electronic health records, some phone systems and “various systems utilized to order certain tests, procedures and medications,” Ascension said in a statement distributed Thursday evening.
The sprawling health care network, which also owns 40 senior living facilities, said that it would be using “downtime procedure for some time,” because of the cyberattack. Downtime procedures are typically when health providers revert to backup processes, including paper records, that allow them to care for patients when computers are down.
Steve Hahn, Executive VP, BullWall:
“So we’re just getting word that Black Basta is behind this attack at Ascension Healthcare and this in the same week that the LockBit ransomware group claimed the attack on the city of Wichita, taking down their network and demanding a ransom. This marks a worrying trend. Russian ransomware groups, such as BlackBasta, LockBit and Blackcat (AlphV), are intensifying their focus on U.S. healthcare. These actions follow the FBI’s operation against Blackcat’s infrastructure, with both groups vowing increased attacks on this sector. These organizations, deeply embedded in Russia, likely amassed close to a billion dollars in ransom in 2023 alone. Their connections with former KGB leaders, including Putin, suggest a geopolitical strategy to target sectors that Putin aims to destabilize.
“The financial toll of these attacks is staggering. United Healthcare’s $22 million payment to decrypt data is minor compared to the broader economic impact, likely exceeding $5 billion. Hospitals like Lehigh Valley Health Network have faced both data encryption and extortion, with potential legal fallout from the threatened release of sensitive patient photos.
“Healthcare systems, with their myriad of IoT devices, widespread provider networks, and vast attack surfaces, are particularly vulnerable. The recent suspension of operations in Northeast hospitals due to cyberattacks underlines the sector’s susceptibility and the potentially fatal consequences of such disruptions.
“For healthcare, preparation is not optional but essential. They must develop robust backup, recovery, and rapid ransomware containment strategies to mitigate these risks and minimize the impact of these inevitable attacks.”
As usual when healthcare organizations get pwned, I get to say that this sector is a soft target for hackers. This needs to stop because at some point someone is going to die because they can’t get the care that they need because of a cyberattack like this one. And the only way that this stops is through making sure healthcare organizations can make the required investments that allows them to be less of a target.
Related
This entry was posted on May 11, 2024 at 8:20 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Hacked. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Ascension Hospital Healthcare Network Pwned In Far Reaching Cyberattack By BlackBasta
The Ascension Hospital cyber attack continues to head much of this week’s news, particularly as it follows on both the Heritage healthcare cyber attack and the City of Wichita getting hit by LockBit this week. CNN is reporting that the BlackBasta ransomware group is behind the attack. This latest cyberattack has had significant effects in terms of patient care:
The cyberattack on Ascension, a St. Louis-based nonprofit network that includes 140 hospitals in 19 states, is also disrupting access to electronic health records, some phone systems and “various systems utilized to order certain tests, procedures and medications,” Ascension said in a statement distributed Thursday evening.
The sprawling health care network, which also owns 40 senior living facilities, said that it would be using “downtime procedure for some time,” because of the cyberattack. Downtime procedures are typically when health providers revert to backup processes, including paper records, that allow them to care for patients when computers are down.
Steve Hahn, Executive VP, BullWall:
“So we’re just getting word that Black Basta is behind this attack at Ascension Healthcare and this in the same week that the LockBit ransomware group claimed the attack on the city of Wichita, taking down their network and demanding a ransom. This marks a worrying trend. Russian ransomware groups, such as BlackBasta, LockBit and Blackcat (AlphV), are intensifying their focus on U.S. healthcare. These actions follow the FBI’s operation against Blackcat’s infrastructure, with both groups vowing increased attacks on this sector. These organizations, deeply embedded in Russia, likely amassed close to a billion dollars in ransom in 2023 alone. Their connections with former KGB leaders, including Putin, suggest a geopolitical strategy to target sectors that Putin aims to destabilize.
“The financial toll of these attacks is staggering. United Healthcare’s $22 million payment to decrypt data is minor compared to the broader economic impact, likely exceeding $5 billion. Hospitals like Lehigh Valley Health Network have faced both data encryption and extortion, with potential legal fallout from the threatened release of sensitive patient photos.
“Healthcare systems, with their myriad of IoT devices, widespread provider networks, and vast attack surfaces, are particularly vulnerable. The recent suspension of operations in Northeast hospitals due to cyberattacks underlines the sector’s susceptibility and the potentially fatal consequences of such disruptions.
“For healthcare, preparation is not optional but essential. They must develop robust backup, recovery, and rapid ransomware containment strategies to mitigate these risks and minimize the impact of these inevitable attacks.”
As usual when healthcare organizations get pwned, I get to say that this sector is a soft target for hackers. This needs to stop because at some point someone is going to die because they can’t get the care that they need because of a cyberattack like this one. And the only way that this stops is through making sure healthcare organizations can make the required investments that allows them to be less of a target.
Share this:
Like this:
Related
This entry was posted on May 11, 2024 at 8:20 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Hacked. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.