Tag Archive for: System

Higgins Welcomes System Restoration after Change Healthcare Cyberattack


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.” 

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Inside the book: Androids – The Team That Built the Android Operating System


In 2004, Android was two people who wanted to build camera software but couldn’t get investors interested. Android is a large team at Google today, delivering an OS to over 3 billion devices worldwide.

In this Help Net Security video, Chet Haase discusses his new book – “Androids: The Team that Built the Android Operating System.” This is a first-hand chronological account of how the startup began, how the team came together, and how they built an operating system from the kernel level to its applications and everything in between.

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‘Akira’ ransomware behind Bucks Co. cyberattack that crippled emergency dispatch system – NBC10 Philadelphia


About a week after a cyberattack crippled Bucks County’s computer-aided emergency dispatch system, officials, on Friday, announced they believe they know who was behind the attack.

According to county officials, the ransomware group “Akira” is believed to have been responsible for the attack on a computer-aided emergency dispatch system that — according to the Department of Homeland Security — enables “dispatchers, call- takers, and 911 operators to prioritize and record incident calls, identify the status and location of responders in the field, and effectively dispatch responder personnel.”

“The County has shared with its local, state and federal partners that the ransomware “Akira” is involved so that they can have situational awareness and review their own systems,” county officials announced.

However, officials said, all 911 phone and radio systems remain operational as they investigate the cyberattack.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, Akira is a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) group that started operations in March 2023.

“The group has targeted multiple sectors, including finance, real estate, manufacturing, and healthcare,” says the Dept. of Health and Human Services, noting that the group typically demands ransom payments in these cyberattacks.

Without this system, Bucks County officials said that the county has lost automated services powered by CAD and law enforcement officials cannot access databases for the Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network nor the National Crime Information Center.

Officials said they are working with state and federal partner agencies to assist in the investigation into the cybersecurity incident and, the county’s IT department is working to get the systems back online as soon as possible.

As of Sunday, officials still had no projected timeframe for when these services might resume.

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County Identifies Gang That Has Taken Down CAD System


The 9-1-1 center.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com

Bucks County officials have identified the ransomware gang behind the attack that has crippled the countywide computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system.

In a statement, county officials said they have informed “local, state and federal partners that the ransomware ‘Akira’ is involved so that they can have situational awareness and review their own systems. ”

Akira, according to various news reports from around the globe, is a cyberattack gang that has hit governments and businesses. The gang can charge millions to release captured data.

The county said in a weekend statement that it “continues to investigate the cybersecurity incident.”

Sources have said federal law enforcement has been investigating the attack. The FBI and Bucks County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

“The county continues to work closely with third-party experts to conduct a thorough investigation,” Bucks County officials said in a statement.

Officials have not commented on how much the ransom request was, whether the county is talking with the attackers, if the county has considered paying the ransom, or what will happen to the captured information, which includes sensitive data handled by emergency crews.

While the 9-1-1 system remains operational, the CAD system used by local law enforcement, firefighters, and ambulance squads continued to be out of service as of Saturday afternoon.

The cyberattack kicked off with the outage that started last Sunday.

The outage has led to responders across Bucks County going back to pen and paper and other inconveniences. Call-takers and dispatchers have been using pen and paper and spreadsheets to handle calls.

There have been some frustrations and slowdowns in responses with the CAD system being down, police and fire officials have said.

The Pennsylvania National Guard has been among the state and federal agencies assisting the county.

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