Who: Change Healthcare, a major U.S. health tech giant, suffered an ongoing cyberattack caused by the BlackCat ransomware group.
What: The ransomware attack led to outages and disruptions at hospitals and pharmacies across the U.S. for a week. Change Healthcare, a significant healthcare processor, handles prescriptions and billing for over 67,000 pharmacies, managing 15 billion healthcare transactions annually.
How: The cyberattack, linked to BlackCat (ALPHV), started on February 21, impacting customer-facing systems. Patient data theft remains uncertain. UnitedHealth Group, Change Healthcare's parent company, identified a "suspected nation-state" threat actor. Hospitals, providers, and pharmacies faced difficulties fulfilling prescriptions. The American Hospital Association advised disconnection from Optum (Change Healthcare's parent) due to potential risks. Tricare, the U.S. military’s health insurance, reported global impacts on military pharmacies. BlackCat/ALPHV has previously targeted Norton, Reddit, and Fidelity National Financial.
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