Over 100 hospitals in Romania have been attacked by ransomware, pushing their systems offline. The perpetrators of this cybercrime are demanding a Bitcoin BTC ransom equating to $174,000.
What Happened: The ransomware gang targeted the IT infrastructure of these hospitals, encrypting their data and causing significant disruptions to their operations, as revealed by Romania’s National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC).
The attack directly impacted 25 hospitals using the Hipocrate Information System (HIS), while another 79 have been taken offline as a precautionary measure while authorities gauge the full scope of the cyber onslaught.
Why It Matters: The DNSC pointed out the ransomware software used in this attack as ‘Backmydata’, a strain of the infamous Phobos ransomware. The identities of the cybercriminals involved, however, remain unknown at this stage.
The DNSC has cautioned the affected hospitals against negotiating with the attackers or succumbing to their ransom demands. They have been advised to keep a close eye on any ransom communications, preserve any potential evidence by maintaining the systems operational, carry out a system cleanup and then switch to secure, updated backups. Importantly, the DNSC has found no signs of data theft so far.
Last week, the United Nations reportedly investigated a series of cyberattacks allegedly orchestrated by North Korea, which generated a staggering $3 billion. The funds were purportedly used to develop the country’s nuclear weapons program further. A panel of independent sanctions monitors is looking into 58 suspected cyberattacks on cryptocurrency-related companies that occurred between 2017 and 2023. Reuters reported that these attacks are estimated to have been worth around $3 billion, citing excerpts from an unpublished U.N. report.
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