Good day to you! I’ve just picked up on an interesting bit of news in the world of health and cybersecurity and thought I’d share it with you. This is one for anyone the slightest bit interested in the mesh of healthcare, patient privacy and, of course, the ever-looming bogeyman of cyberthreats.
You know UnitedHealth Group, right? Bigwig in the healthcare sector, they’ve got their fingers in many pies globally. Well, it’s been reported recently that they’ve had a bit of a cyber scare. Earlier this year, one of their subsidiaries, Change Healthcare, had a bit of a run-in with online baddies.
Like some hackneyed movie plot, a bunch of cyber miscreants targeted Change Healthcare, broke into their system, and (you guessed it) nicked a load of personal data. We’re not exactly talking about your tea preference here; this is sensitive patient information we’re on about.
Getting wind of this, UnitedHealth Group promptly did what they felt was best to protect all that data from being misused. It’s a shame, but they’ve had to cough up and pay a ransom to these threat actors. They didn’t spill the beans on how much was handed over, but we can make an educated guess it wasn’t just a few bob.
What’s interesting here is the way UnitedHealth Group have tackled the situation. They’re not just sat there twiddling thumbs after the event, you know. They’re rigorously scouring the depths of the internet and the less savoury corners of the dark web, trying to check if the stolen data made its public debut yet. Well, stolen healthcare files being brandished online aren’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea!
On the surface, it does look like performances are up to snuff. Apparently, a set of screen captures, supposed to have been taken from the nicked files, had a short-lived stint on the dark web. Thankfully, it seems no additional patient information has been flashed around the worldwide web since then.
However, there’s a bit of a twist in the tale. Even as UnitedHealth Group were diligently patrolling the cyber pathways, it appears that more data had found its way to not one, but two, onion web addresses. Well, there you have it; it’s not all as pucka as it seems at first glance.
Our mate, Zack Whittaker from TechCrunch, shares a bit more about this cheeky cyber attack. Seems the hackers had free reign of Change Healthcare’s network for over a week, plenty of time for them to get their grubby mitts on top-notch data. They reportedly used nicked login credentials that gave them remote access to the system and subsequently ran amok.
It’s a grim reminder of the porous world we now inhabit. But, I reckon UnitedHealth’s response strengthens their commitment to keeping data safe and shows their determination to do their utmost to protect patient data. Well, all we can do is keep our eyes peeled for further developments and hope this serves as a wake-up call for others navigating the murky waters of cyber health security.
by Parker Bytes
