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The Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center was the victim of a ransomware attack last week when its patient files were locked by hackers in exchange for a ransom.
One of the patients, Melissa Garza, said, “I wasn’t feeling very well, went in for a check-up and they said their computers were down. I asked, what’s going on here and they said we were hacked.”
Ransom of 3.6 million US Dollars
Computer forensics expert Eric Robi said that the hackers demanded in the region of 9,000 bitcoins, which would bring the amount to over USD$3.6 million (£2.52 million) in exchange for unlocking the records. In most cases, Robi says, it’s cheaper to pay the ransom than to try to fix the problem.The Hospital is sadly just another unfortunate victim of cyber crime. Investigators confirm there is no apparent motive for attacking the hospital – but if you’re informed about cyber security you will know that hackers target the weakest link: those that are simply not secure enough.
While the hospital has declared they are in the midst of an “internal emergency”, Kaspersky explains that there is absolutely no guarantee that the attackers will adhere to their part of the ‘deal’ if the hospital chooses to the pay the ransom – these are criminals, after all.
Read more at: http://www.itgovernance.co.uk/blog/major-hollywood-hospital-brought-down-by-a-ransomware-attack/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=linkedinannc
