At the PHI Protection Network conference last week, we spent a lot of time discussing the increasing rate of ransomware attacks. I asked a number of people whether they thought that ransomware attacks that (merely) locked up the data with no evidence of exfiltration had to be reported to HHS. I got a variety of…
Category: Malware
Ontario hospital website may have infected visitors with ransomware, security firm says
Emily Chung reports: The website of an Ontario hospital may have infected the computers of patients and staff with ransomware planted on the site during a hack attack, the internet security company Malwarebytes warns. Norfolk General Hospital, located in Simcoe, Ont., confirms its website was hacked by cybercriminals, but denies that visitors were ever at risk. […] Jérôme Segura, a senior security researcher with Malwarebytes, reported in a blog…
Hackers Seek Ransom From Two More California Hospitals
Chad Terhune reports: Hackers demanded a ransom from two more Southern California hospitals last week and federal authorities are investigating the case. Prime Healthcare Services Inc., a fast-growing national hospital chain, said the attackers infiltrated computer servers on Friday at two of its California hospitals, Chino Valley Medical Center in Chino and Desert Valley Hospital…
Concordia warns university community about possible computer security breach
Karen Seidman reports: The Concordia University community got a lesson in computer security on Monday after the university had to send out a notice telling students and staff that keylogger devices — which can capture keystrokes — were found on some workstations in the Webster and Vanier libraries. They were only found on express workstations, which can be…
KY: Ransomware incident at Methodist Hospital in Henderson (update2)
On March 15, Jessica Gavin reported: A cyber security breach, striking Methodist Hospital in Henderson. We’re learning the FBI is investigating this right now, but there’s some good news. [….] David Park, COO of Methodist, tells 14 NEWS the hackers have copied patients records and locked those copies. They’ve deleted the originals. “We’ve notified the FBI,…
Ransomware Propagation Tied to TeamViewer Account
As if you needed another reason to distrust remote access viewers, David Bisson reports: Researchers have tied the propagation of a new type of ransomware to a TeamViewer user. TeamViewer is a cross-platform service that enables remote computer access for tech support calls, meetings, and other purposes. It has been installed on more than a billion devices,…