Hacker demands ransom in Bitcoin after taking over hospital servers

It is a fact that the healthcare industry has been a lucrative target for cyber criminals around the world as every now and then there are incidents involving malware attacks on medical centers and hospitals. While cybercriminals do what they are good at these institutions are also to be blamed for not taking their online security seriously and that is what happened at Hancock Health hospital.

What Happened

On the night of January 11th, Hancock Health hospital in Greenfield Indiana suffered a sophisticated cyber attack in 

Which its entire network was compromised by a hacker who displayed a message on the computer system demanding ransom money in Bitcoin, a popular cryptocurrency used in making anonymous transactions that are almost impossible to trace.In return, the hospital administration decided to shut down its system to stop the hacker and contacted a cybersecurity agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Damages

In a conversation with Green Field Reporter, the CEO of Hancock Health hospital Steve Long has acknowledged the hack but refrained from providing any further information 

including whether the system is back online or how much ransom did the hacker ask for. However, Long believes that no personal medical information was stolen.

At the moment it is also unclear how the hacker was able to hijack the entire system but Lang confirmed that it was not a result of a worker falling for some phishing or malware-infected email, therefore, more information will be out once the authorities complete the 

investigation.

“This was not a 15-year-old kid sitting in his mother’s basement,” Long told Green Field Reporter.

Not For The First Time

This will not be the first time when a hospital has suffered a 

malware attack that locked employees out of their computers and led to ransom demand. Previously, hospitals across England, United Kindom were compromised by hackers who demanded $300 in Bitcoin. The attack later turned out to be one of the nastiest ransomware attack calledWannaCry.

In another incident, Hollywood HealthCare Facility computers suffered a cyber attack as a result, hospital staff lost access to patients’ data and their email accounts. The 

attackers demanded ransom in whooping 9,000 Bitcoin which was $3.6 million at that time (currently $127 million – 104 million Euro).

How To Beat Ransomware Attack?

It might not be easy for unsuspecting users to get rid of ransomware infection but it is not that difficult either. You 

can handle the situation if you have a backup of your data and walk out as a winner. Just like Sacramento Regional Transit System in California who were held for $7,000 ransom but rather than paying ransom the authorities dismissed the threats given by hackers and restored the locked file with a backup.

The victims can also try their luck with“No More Ransomware” portal that recovers encrypted data for free. As of July 2016, the portal had helped 2,500 ransomware victims by recovering their data and saved $1million (1.3 

million Euros).

Resource:- Hackread