Ransomware Attacks Hit Hospitals In Romania

Uploaded on 2024-02-23 in FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Services-Health & Welfare

Over 25 Romanian hospitals and healthcare facilities have been been affected by a ransomware attack, which has taken their healthcare management systems offline. The Hipocrate Information System (HIS) used by hospitals to manage medical activity and patient data was targeted over the weekend and is now offline after its database was encrypted.

Children's and emergency hospitals were amongst those hit, with some facilities going completely offline. The hackers have demanded 3.5 Bitcoin, worth over $150,000, to unlock vital files which they had encrypted.

Romanian healthcare officials said data had been recently backed up, which is reducing the impact of the attack.

The Romanian Ministry of Health says that the attack targeted the HIS medical information system. The incident was under investigation by IT specialists, including cyber security experts from the National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC), the ministry said. The DNSC says 25 hospitals were attacked and this attack began at the The Pitesti Paediatric Hospital.

According to sources, 79 other healthcare facilities were taken offline as a precautionary measure while investigations were carried out to determine if they had been affected.

While officials had identified the type of malware used, the group responsible has yet to be identified. The ransom demand includes only an email address, officials wrote. As most of the targeted hospitals have recent backups of data from the affected servers, it is expected that the facilities should be able to remediate the damage reasonably quickly.

The impact on patients could be very serious as so many hospitals have had to switch off Internet connected devices. This could, affect not just booking and records but also machines like critical monitors and scanners.

The national healthcare service in Ireland endured a similar attack in 2021 using Conti ransomware which caused thousands of patient appointments to be cancelled or rearranged. In that incident, the Irish government refused to pay the ransom demanded.

BBC | Bleeping Computer | MS | The Hindu | DNSC | BBC | AOL | Graham Cluley

Image: Unsplash

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