Ransomware hack hits prescription drug market, inconveniencing millions
Change and a rival, CoverMyMeds, are the two biggest players in the so-called switch business, charging pharmacies a small fee for funneling claims to insurers.
“When one of them goes down, obviously it’s a major problem,” said Patrick Berryman, a senior vice president at the National Community Pharmacists Association.
A notorious Russian-speaking ransomware ring known as ALPHV claimed credit for the Feb. 21 breach, capping a string of attacks that included several hospitals.
The lasting issues underscore the continued fragility of critical infrastructure nearly three years after a ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline prompted a shutdown of the biggest network of fuel pipelines in the country. Service stations, particularly in the eastern half of the United States, ran short of fuel as consumers rushed to gas up.
Since then, U.S. officials and their international partners have announced a series of operations that have included hacking the gangs, taking over their chats with business associates, and in some cases making arrests. ALPHV was targeted in a December takedown that proved short-lived.
U.S. pharmacies reported a wide range of impacts, with independent stores having some of the worst problems.
UnitedHealth estimated that more than 90 percent of the nation’s 70,000-plus pharmacies have had to alter how they process electronic claims as a result of the Change outage but said only a small number of patients have been unable to get their prescriptions at…