HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) - A criminal ransomware network connected to a cyber attack at some of Connecticut’s hospitals has been taken down by the FBI, according to the Department of Justice.
The attack hit over 200,000 computers across the U.S. and cost hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, according to the DOJ.
The FBI called it a duck hunt taking down the hacking network called Qakbot.
“Qackbot is one of the most successful persistent and notorious botnets in the globe,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. “Stopping cybercrime is a matter of cybercrime is a matter of national security.”
These cyber-attacks also hit hospitals in Connecticut. At the beginning of August data was taken by hackers from Prospect Medical Holdings, the parent company of Waterbury Health and Eastern Connecticut Health Networks (ECHN).
Computer systems were offline and some hospital services were shut down.
At Waterbury Hospital, trauma patients were routed away from the ER. Nurses said it took longer for labs to come back and to communicate with doctors.
At ECHN, nurses had no access to payroll information leaving some underpaid.
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