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“Click Here” podcast host Dina Temple-Raston recently interviewed the self-proclaimed leader of the LockBit ransomware, which has been operating for a few years.
The leader, LockBit Supp, is reportedly behind the recent Fulton County cyberattack.
On Friday’s edition of “Closer Look,” Temple-Raston talked with the show host Rose Scott about how her team got LockBitSupp’s contact information and what he revealed during their discussion.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) announced that, per reports, Change Healthcare, a segment of UnitedHealth Group, has restored much of its electronic payment system after a 3-week system outage due to a ransomware attack. Claims processing is expected to resume today, March 15, with a full system restoration phased in the next week.
In February, Change HealthCare publicly disclosed that it had been the victim of the most significant cyberattack on the U.S. health care system in American history. This attack severely impacted not only the health care industry but also millions of Americans who rely on the services provided by Change HealthCare. The organization is responsible for 15 billion health care transactions annually and touches 1 in every 3 patients’ records.
The culprit, ALPHV/BlackCat, demanded immediate financial compensation to restore services online. Unfortunately, various Veteran Homecare facilities and Small Business health care providers across South Louisiana were impacted by the attacks, leaving many organizations unable to process payments, receive prescriptions, and fill health claims.
“The cyber warfare that goes on around us, sight unseen, should concern everyone,” said Congressman Higgins. “With cyberattacks becoming increasingly prevalent, we as a nation must make it a priority to focus on protecting our computer systems. Some of the most innovative ideas and products for cyber warfare originate from American startups and small businesses. We must harness their expertise to prevent, mitigate, and defend our country against cyberattacks. We cannot allow situations like Change Healthcare to impact the daily lives of hardworking Americans because our cyber developments are not up to speed and able to compete in the international marketplace.”
Do employers really know how
Change Healthcare is responsible for 14 billion clinical, financial and operational transactions each year, according to its website, and processes an estimated 50% of
“Ransomware attacks like the one on Change Healthcare aim to stop organizations from functioning by using encryption to make critical systems unusable,” says Mark Stockley, cybersecurity expert at Malwarebytes, an anti-malware software company. “Attacks are carried out by criminal hackers who break into vulnerable organizations, explore their networks, steal valuable data and quietly distribute their ransomware to as many computers as they can.”
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Providers under UnitedHealth are struggling to get reimbursed for their services, and patients are struggling to access medications as the healthcare company tries to restore medical claims and electronic payment access. This means hospitals and pharmacies are left to wait and absorb an unfathomable financial burden. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has asked insurers to waive certain authorizations and accept physical bills from doctors and hospitals — but those can take months to process.
UnitedHealth stated these services should be up and running later this month, but there’s no fixing the breach itself. The American Hospital Association has deemed this attack the most “significant” event of its kind in the history of the U.S. healthcare system.
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Stockley stresses that cyberattacks are only becoming more common, with the Office for…