Hospitals of the National Health Service (NHS) network were paralyzed by a malware

In late 2015, MaineGeneral Health, a new state of the art hospital located in Augusta, Maine, reported that it had fallen victim of a cyberattack that leaked the names, addresses, and phone numbers for patients of its radiology services since June 2009.  The attack is one of many in the past year where targeting of the medical industry, particularly hospitals, is on the rise.

Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, Methodist Hospital in Henderson, Kentucky, Chino Valley Medical Center, and Desert Valle Hospital are just but a few of the medical facilities hit with a wave of Cryptolocker attacks, costing an untold amount in ransom and cleanup. Then there’s MedStar, the Washington D.C. based hospital chain whose infrastructure was crippled with a virus in late March.

Then there’s MedStar, the Washington D.C. based hospital chain whose infrastructure was crippled with a virus in late March.  According to one report some 35,000 employees could not access emails or access patient records.  Cybercriminals behind the attack demanded 45 Bitcoins, at the time worth US$45,000, to unlock its systems and threatened to destroy the private key used to encrypt MedStar’s data if payment wasn’t made within ten days.  Interestingly, the hackers also gave MedStar the option of releasing one computer at a time for 3 Bitcoins – how nice of them. It’s unknown whether or not MedStar paid the ransom or not but reported four days later they had recovered “90 percent of its functionality.”

The medical industry has become a fertile ground for cybercriminals and an industry that appears to be left lagging behind other critical infrastructures that have focused on hardening its networks for years, like the financial services industry.  Hospitals are a smorgasbord of the personal identifiable information and payment systems that make it attractive for snoops, thieves, and extortionists alike.

Back to the NHS Trust case, there is no news about the type of malware that hit the system, someone speculated the malicious code could likely be a ransomware that has previously targeted other hospitals and healthcare facilities.

Cyber security for critical infrastructure, and in particular for hospitals is a must for the cyber strategy of any government.