A nationwide hospital ransomware attack compromised the data of numerous healthcare providers in late July, and the FBI is now initiating an investigation into the incident. On July 27, a malicious ransomware dubbed “NetWalker” infiltrated computer systems of multiple hospitals in at least 6 states; the targets included two hospitals in California, one in New Mexico, one in Florida, one in Kentucky, and one in Maryland.
Once hackers gained access to the systems, they locked out users and encrypted data stored on local and network drives. While there is no evidence that hackers accessed or viewed the data, they did issue a demand to the hospitals for a ransom payment in return for the decryption keys.
In a joint statement, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) warned other healthcare organizations nationwide to be aware of the threat and the fact that the attack has already impacted multiple healthcare providers. The statement also urged healthcare organizations to have proper defenses in place and to seal any security gaps that could allow hackers to gain access to sensitive information.
The FBI has since taken the lead in the investigation and has been working to “identify the actors responsible for the attack and hold them accountable for their actions.” In addition, investigators have been collecting and analyzing data from the compromised networks in an effort to learn more about the attack and how it was executed.
Ransomware attacks have become increasingly more common in recent years, and this latest attack shows just how vulnerable healthcare organizations are to such malicious campaigns. To protect, other healthcare organizations must ensure that their digital defenses are up to date and that they have processes in place for quickly responding to potential threats.