Cyber attacks are devastating to the finances and operations of an organization, and now they have the possibility to cause loss of human life. This week, a cyber gang operating out of Eastern Europe carried out an attack on three U.S. hospitals, causing patient health services to be affected and ambulances having to be transferred to nearby hospitals. The European cybercriminals are utilizing a variant of Trickbot malware, an infamous tool used to steal sensitive information and leave backdoor entries for future attacks.
Cyber attacks have become much more serious for the healthcare industry. Now, loss of data isn’t the only thing at stake during a cyber attack.
“We’re aware of multiple hospitals that have had to reroute patients to other hospitals,” Carmakal told CRN. “And so you think about it from a human perspective, the ramifications are tremendous here. You’re potentially dealing with real impact on human lives or at least patient care to people that really need it, especially during this pandemic.”
The FBI, HHS, and CISA have released credible information stating that more attacks are expected and are urging U.S. hospitals to increase security measures to ensure network protection. In the middle of the pandemic, many cybercriminal groups “promised” to not intervene with hospitals. However, their recent attacks have made it clear their words cannot be trusted. For these groups, the knowledge that they could place an increased pressure on insurance groups and hospitals to pay a ransom is irresistible.
Kevin McDonald, Alvaka CISO and COO, states, ”the crime syndicates know that from the minute they strike, the clock is on their side,” and, “Patients don’t have time to wait for treatment. In some cases, you can’t wait for that blood test, you can’t wait for that CT scan. Therefore, the hospitals and the insurance providers are going to be much more likely to pay much more quickly than they would be if it were a widget manufacturer.”
Cybercrime groups operating on the sole purpose of financial gain and no regard human life seem to have no issue with crossing lines set by other threat actors.
The summary above is from an article posted by CRN. Read the original article by CRN – Government Warns Of ‘Imminent Cybercrime Threat To U.S. Hospitals’
Click HERE Read Alert from Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
