Health insurance company UnitedHealth has identified Black Cat as the group behind a debilitating cyber attack that disrupted healthcare providers across the United States. Reuters I am reporting. This attack resulted in the following: A week-long power outage of the Change Healthcare system owned by United. Payment interruption At hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies nationwide.
The breach created a hurdle because Change Healthcare acts as an intermediary between healthcare providers and insurance companies. daily transactions e-pharmacy refills, new insurance claims, and more. According to information, the company first identified suspicious activity on its IT systems on February 21st. SEC filing.
UnitedHealth Group Chief Operating Officer Dirk McMahon said the breach could last several weeks. told STAT. Insurers, meanwhile, are launching loan programs for health care providers.
in Joint Cybersecurity Recommendation, federal agencies such as CISA and the FBI have warned that Black Cat is now intentionally targeting healthcare systems. “Of the nearly 70 data breach victims since mid-December 2023, the healthcare sector has been the most affected,” the agency wrote.
The US government is even offering rewards totaling $15 million for actionable information regarding the group’s whereabouts. Last year, an FBI attempt to seize Blackcat’s servers and sites appeared unsuccessful, but the group quickly regained control.
In a later-deleted darknet message on Wednesday, Black Cat also claimed: Stolen millions of patient recordsContaining sensitive medical and insurance data in the UnitedHealth breach; Reuters report. In the same message, the group also admitted to stealing data from Medicare, Tricare, and even CVS Health. No details were provided about the timing of these breaches, and the messages were reportedly deleted without explanation. Reuters We were unable to contact the hackers or verify their claims.
The theft of sensitive records from UnitedHealth alone could affect millions of people.Almost change the handle on healthcare 1 in 3 patient records In the United States, the American Hospital Association said in a letter to Health Department Secretary Xavier Becerra on Monday. “Prolonged disruptions to the Change Healthcare system will adversely impact the ability of many hospitals to provide complete health care services to their communities,” wrote AHA President Richard J. Pollack. .
UnitedHealth is currently working with Mandiant, a Google company, and cybersecurity software vendor Palo Alto Networks. CNBC report. The company did not say whether it plans to pay the ransom.
