Ride the Lightning

Hollywood Hospital Suffers Cyberattack: $3.4 Million Ransom Demanded

February 17, 2016

Naked Security reported that Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center has suffered a cyberattack in which its data is being held hostage (presumably encrypted) and the hackers are demanding a ransom of 9,000 in Bitcoin – about $3.4 million – to get it back.

The details of the hack have not been released but staff is back to using pen and paper to collect patient information, departments are communicating via fax (how quaint) and patients have come to the hospital to pick up test results because e-mail servers have been shut down.

The attack started on February 5^th. The hospital has been getting investigative help from the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department as well as digital forensics experts but doctors are reportedly growing frustrated with the delay in resolving the issue and patients are experiencing delays in care.

Staff are forbidden to turn on their computers and the computer-reliant Radiation and Oncology departments have been completely shut down.

As yet, there is no evidence that patient or employee information has been accessed.

As readers will know, the FBI often advises ransomware victims to pay the ransom to get the decryption key. But this is one walloping big ransom.

To pay or not to pay? That is the question.

E-mail: Phone: 703-359-0700
Digital Forensics/Information Security/Information Technology
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