Tag Archive for: systems

Ransomware Attack on Change Healthcare Wreaks Havoc on U.S. Medical Billing Systems


One cybersecurity expert estimates some healthcare providers are losing $100 million per day because of the Change Healthcare ransomware attack.

Change Healthcare, a technology company owned by UnitedHealth that processes insurance claims and other critical hospital functions experienced a ransomware attack on February 21 that has continued to cause major disruptions to the nation’s medical payments infrastructure.

For more than a week and a half, the attack has threatened the security of patient data and is delaying many prescriptions at pharmacies and in hospitals around the country, as well as some healthcare worker paychecks, reports the Associated Press. Pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens, Publix, and Good RX all have reported some disruption resulting from the attack, reports the Tennessean.

The ransomware attack against Change Healthcare is the most serious incident of its kind leveled against a healthcare organization in the U.S., according to the American Hospital Association (AHA). The company says it processes about 15 billion healthcare transactions every year and touches one in every three patient records.

One cybersecurity expert says some healthcare providers are losing more than $100 million per day due to the outage, reports CNN.

According to the AHA: “The staggering loss of revenue means that some hospitals and health systems may be unable to pay salaries for clinicians and other members of the care team, acquire necessary medicines and supplies, and pay for mission critical contract work in areas such as physical security, dietary and environmental services. In addition, replacing previously electronic processes with manual processes has often proved ineffective and is adding considerable administrative costs on providers, as well as diverting team members from other tasks.”

In response to the attack, Change Healthcare immediately isolated and disconnected the impacted systems, reports NBC News. UnitedHealth also stood up a “Temporary Funding Assistance Program” for hospitals affected by the breach, but according to the AHA, the funds “will not come close to meeting the needs of our members as they…

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Fulton county’s systems were hacked. Already weary officials are tight-lipped | Georgia


As a Fulton county, Georgia, board of registration and elections meeting began in earnest on Thursday afternoon, the elections director, Nadine Williams, unfurled a prepared statement about a recent hack of county government computers.

“There is no indication that this event is related to the election process,” Williams said. “In an abundance of caution, Fulton county and the secretary of state’s respective technology systems were isolated from one another as part of the response efforts. We are working with our team to securely reconnect these systems as preparations for upcoming elections continue.”

Any time the Fulton county elections board meets, a cantankerous crowd greets them to pepper appointees with challenges to voter registrations or demands for paper ballots or generally unsympathetic noise. The rancor of the 2020 election and its unfounded charges of vote tampering still ripple through the democratic process. Elections officials in Fulton county take care about what they say, knowing that a platoon of critics lie waiting to pounce on a misplaced word.

Even by that standard, county officials have been holding uncharacteristically tightly to a prepared script – or saying nothing at all – in the days since a computer breach debilitated everything from the tax and water billing department to court records to phones.

“Because it’s under investigation, they’re telling me to stick to a list of talking points,” said the Fulton county commissioner Bridget Thorne. “The county attorney drafted them.”

She did say that the county had come under a ransomware attack – and that the county had not paid off the attacker. “We’re insured very well,” she said.

Systems began to fail on the weekend of 27 January. Ten days later, the phones for most departments returned a busy signal error when callers rang them up.

County officials either cannot or will not directly and completely answer important questions about the cyber-attack’s scope. The Fulton county chair Robb Pitts made a brief statement on 29 January about the hack without taking questions.

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Nebraska state senator wants to hire a hacker to break into state systems


One state lawmaker wants Nebraska to take measures to protect it from cyberattacks. His answer? Hire its own hacker.

State Sen. Loren Lippincott presented a bill Thursday to the Legislature’s government committee that would give the Nebraska State Patrol $200,000 to hire “an ethical hacker.” The hacker would spend his or her days trying to break into the state’s computer network, as well as election equipment and software, to find any vulnerabilities in those systems.

Lippincott said he got the idea from a nephew of his who did similar work. The lawmaker’s staff did not find other states that have hired independent hackers, although Missouri has hired a company that employs “white hat hackers” to provide that service.

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“We hope to lead the way,” Lippincott said.

His bill also would allow hiring a security company that provide hackers to find weaknesses in the state’s system.

Security challenges continue to grow for state and local election officials across the country, including potential cyberattacks waged by foreign governments, criminal ransomware gangs and election misinformation that has led to harassment of election officials and undermined public confidence.

Nebraska Sen. Loren Lippincott

Nebraska Sen. Loren Lippincott is pictured here at his desk on the floor of the state Capitol on Jan. 5, 2024, in Lincoln, Nebraska. He introduced a bill to hire “an ethical hacker” to find weaknesses in state computer systems on Jan. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Margery Beck, File)

Lippincott presented the bill on the heels of FBI Director Christopher Wray’s warning that Chinese government hackers are targeting critical U.S. infrastructure, including water treatment plants, the electrical grid and transportation systems.

The Nebraska bill’s hearing was also held on the same day that the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency launched a program aimed at boosting election security in the states and after a recent cyberattack on government operations in Georgia that has created some elections challenges ahead of that state’s March presidential primary.

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“This idea is that an ethical hacker can find vulnerabilities that can be fixed…

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Best mesh Wi-Fi systems of 2024


Best Mesh Wi-Fi System: Quick Menu

The best mesh Wi-Fi systems can easily fill your entire home and even your backyard with a strong Wi-Fi signal while eliminating any Wi-Fi dead spots around your house.

Unlike a traditional router, mesh Wi-Fi systems use multiple nodes or satellites to create a single, seamless Wi-Fi network across your entire home. This means you won’t have to switch networks as you move throughout your home like you do with one of the best Wi-Fi extenders.

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