healthcare | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Thursday unsealed an indictment against a North Korean military intelligence operative for allegedly carrying out ransomware attacks against healthcare facilities in the country and funneling the payments to orchestrate additional intrusions into defense, technology, and government entities across the world. " Rim Jong Hyok and his co-conspirators deployed ransomware to extort U.S. hospitals and health care companies, then laundered the proceeds to help fund North Korea's illicit activities," said Paul Abbate, deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). "These unacceptable and unlawful actions placed innocent lives at risk." Concurrent with the indictment, the U.S. Department of State announced a reward of up to $10 million for information that could lead to his whereabouts, or the identification of other individuals in connection with the malicious activity. Hyok, part of a hacking crew dubbed Andarie

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday  added  a security flaw impacting NextGen Healthcare Mirth Connect to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. The flaw, tracked as  CVE-2023-43208  (CVSS score: N/A), concerns a case of unauthenticated remote code execution arising from an incomplete patch for another critical flaw CVE-2023-37679 (CVSS score: 9.8). Details of the vulnerability were first revealed by Horizon3.ai in late October 2023, with additional technical specifics and a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit released earlier this January. Mirth Connect is an open-source data integration platform widely used by healthcare companies, allowing for data exchange between different systems in a standardized manner. CVE-2023-43208 is "ultimately related to insecure usage of the Java XStream library for unmarshalling XML payloads," security researcher Naveen Sunkavally  said , describing t

As a vCISO, you are responsible for your client's cybersecurity strategy and risk governance. This incorporates multiple disciplines, from research to execution to reporting. Recently, we published a comprehensive playbook for vCISOs, "Your First 100 Days as a vCISO – 5 Steps to Success" , which covers all the phases entailed in launching a successful vCISO engagement, along with recommended actions to take, and step-by-step examples.  Following the success of the playbook and the requests that have come in from the MSP/MSSP community, we decided to drill down into specific parts of vCISO reporting and provide more color and examples. In this article, we focus on how to create compelling narratives within a report, which has a significant impact on the overall MSP/MSSP value proposition.  This article brings the highlights of a recent guided workshop we held, covering what makes a successful report and how it can be used to enhance engagement with your cyber security clients.

Security researchers have disclosed almost a dozen security flaws impacting the GE HealthCare Vivid Ultrasound product family that could be exploited by malicious actors to tamper with patient data and even install ransomware under certain circumstances. "The impacts enabled by these flaws are manifold: from the implant of ransomware on the ultrasound machine to the access and manipulation of patient data stored on the vulnerable devices," operational technology (OT) security vendor Nozomi Networks  said  in a technical report. The security issues impact the Vivid T9 ultrasound system and its pre-installed Common Service Desktop web application, which is exposed on the localhost interface of the device and allows users to perform administrative actions. They also affect another software program called EchoPAC that's installed on a doctor's Windows workstation to help them access multi-dimensional echo, vascular, and abdominal ultrasound images. That being said, s

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ordered mental telehealth company Cerebral from using or disclosing personal medical data for advertising purposes. It has also been fined more than $7 million over charges that it revealed users' sensitive personal health information and other data to third-parties for advertising purposes and failed to honor its easy cancellation policies. "Cerebral and its former CEO, Kyle Robertson, repeatedly broke their privacy promises to consumers and misled them about the company's cancellation policies," the FTC  said  in a press statement. While claiming to offer "safe, secure, and discreet" services in order to get consumers to sign up and provide their data, the company, FTC alleged, did not clearly disclose that the information would be shared with third-parties for advertising. The agency also accused the company of burying its data sharing practices in dense privacy policies, with the company engaging in decept

The U.S. government is warning about the resurgence of BlackCat (aka ALPHV) ransomware attacks targeting the healthcare sector as recently as this month. "Since mid-December 2023, of the nearly 70 leaked victims, the healthcare sector has been the most commonly victimized," the government  said  in an updated advisory. "This is likely in response to the ALPHV/BlackCat administrator's post encouraging its affiliates to target hospitals after operational action against the group and its infrastructure in early December 2023." The alert comes courtesy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The BlackCat ransomware operation suffered a major blow late last year after a coordinated law enforcement operation led to the  seizure of its dark leak sites . But the takedown turned out to be a failure after the group managed to regain control of the

On Thanksgiving Day 2023, while many Americans were celebrating, hospitals across the U.S. were doing quite the opposite. Systems were failing. Ambulances were diverted. Care was impaired. Hospitals in three states were  hit by a ransomware attack , and in that moment, the real-world repercussions came to light—it wasn't just computer networks that were brought to a halt, but actual patient care itself.  Cybercriminals are more brazen than ever, targeting smaller healthcare organizations for big payouts. Sure, it would be nice to believe thieves once lived by a code of conduct, but if one ever existed, it's been torn to shreds and tossed into the wind. Sophisticated hacker groups are now more than happy to launch cyberattacks on medical clinics, nursing homes, and other health service providers. Small- to mid-sized healthcare organizations have, unfortunately, become vulnerable targets from which cybercriminals can easily steal sensitive data, extort heavy ransoms, and, worst of all,

Governments from Australia, the U.K., and the U.S. have imposed financial sanctions on a Russian national for his alleged role in the 2022 ransomware attack against health insurance provider Medibank. Alexander Ermakov (aka blade_runner, GistaveDore, GustaveDore, or JimJones), 33, has been tied to the breach of the Medibank network as well as the theft and release of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) belonging to the Australian company. The ransomware attack, which  took place in late October 2022  and attributed to the  now-defunct REvil ransomware crew , led to the unauthorized access of approximately 9.7 million of its current and former customers. The stolen information included names, dates of birth, Medicare numbers, and sensitive medical information, including records on mental health, sexual health and drug use. Some of these records were leaked on the dark web. As part of the trilateral action, the sanctions  make  it a criminal offense to provide assets to Erma

The Iranian state-sponsored threat actor known as  OilRig  deployed three different downloader malware throughout 2022 to maintain persistent access to victim organizations located in Israel. The three new downloaders have been named ODAgent, OilCheck, and OilBooster by Slovak cybersecurity company ESET. The attacks also involved the use of an updated version of a known OilRig downloader dubbed  SampleCheck5000  (or SC5k). "These lightweight downloaders [...] are notable for using one of several legitimate cloud service APIs for [command-and-control] communication and data exfiltration: the Microsoft Graph OneDrive or Outlook APIs, and the Microsoft Office Exchange Web Services (EWS) API," security researchers Zuzana Hromcová and Adam Burgher  said  in a report shared with The Hacker News. By using well-known cloud service providers for command-and-control communication, the goal is to blend with authentic network traffic and cover up the group's attack infrastructure

Let's begin with a thought-provoking question: among a credit card number, a social security number, and an Electronic Health Record (EHR),  which commands the highest price on a dark web forum?   Surprisingly, it's the EHR, and the difference is stark: according to a  study , EHRs can sell for up to $1,000 each, compared to a mere $5 for a credit card number and $1 for a social security number. The reason is simple: while a credit card can be canceled, your personal data can't. This significant value disparity underscores why the healthcare industry remains a prime target for cybercriminals. The sector's rich repository of sensitive data presents a lucrative opportunity for profit-driven attackers. For 12 years running, healthcare has faced the highest average costs per breach compared to any other sector.  Exceeding an average of $10 million per breach , it surpasses even the financial sector, which incurs an average cost of around $6 million. The severity of this iss

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has given a November 17, 2023, deadline for federal agencies and organizations to apply mitigations to secure against a number of security flaws in Juniper Junos OS that came to light in August. The agency on Monday  added  five vulnerabilities to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation - CVE-2023-36844  (CVSS score: 5.3) - Juniper Junos OS EX Series PHP External Variable Modification Vulnerability CVE-2023-36845  (CVSS score: 5.3) - Juniper Junos OS EX Series and SRX Series PHP External Variable Modification Vulnerability CVE-2023-36846  (CVSS score: 5.3) - Juniper Junos OS SRX Series Missing Authentication for Critical Function Vulnerability CVE-2023-36847  (CVSS score: 5.3) - Juniper Junos OS EX Series Missing Authentication for Critical Function Vulnerability CVE-2023-36851  (CVSS score: 5.3) - Juniper Junos OS SRX Series Missing Authentication for Critical

Users of  Mirth Connect , an open-source data integration platform from NextGen HealthCare, are being urged to update to the latest version following the discovery of an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability. Tracked as  CVE-2023-43208 , the vulnerability has been addressed in  version 4.4.1  released on October 6, 2023. "This is an easily exploitable, unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability," Horizon3.ai's Naveen Sunkavally  said  in a Wednesday report. "Attackers would most likely exploit this vulnerability for initial access or to compromise sensitive healthcare data." Called the "Swiss Army knife of healthcare integration," Mirth Connect is a cross-platform interface engine used in the healthcare industry to communicate and exchange data between disparate systems in a  standardized manner . Additional technical details about the flaw have been withheld in light of the fact that Mirth Connect versions going as far bac

The healthcare industry is under a constant barrage of cyberattacks. It has traditionally been one of the most frequently targeted industries, and things haven't changed in 2023. The U.S. Government's Office for Civil Rights reported  145 data breaches  in the United States during the first quarter of this year. That follows 707 incidents a year ago, during which over 50 million records were stolen. Health records often include names, birth dates, social security numbers, and addresses. This treasure trove of data is used in identity theft, tax fraud, and other crimes. It is the high value of the data that makes healthcare applications such a promising target. The healthcare industry was hesitant to adopt SaaS applications. However, SaaS applications lead to better collaboration among medical professionals, leading to improved patient outcomes. That, combined with SaaS's ability to reduce costs and improve financial performance, has led to the industry fully embracing SaaS solutions

A hospital with 2,000 employees in the E.U. deployed Cynet protections across its environment. The hospital was in the process of upgrading several expensive imaging systems that were still supported by Windows XP and Windows 7 machines. Cynet protections were in place on most of the Windows XP and Windows 7 machines during the upgrade process, ensuring that legacy operating systems would not cause vulnerabilities or delay the activation of an  incident response plan . The hospital's I.T. security team appreciated this coverage after their previous provider abandoned support for Windows XP and Windows 7. "One of the many reasons we chose Cynet was their support of legacy Windows machines. It's expensive, difficult and time consuming to upgrade our imaging system software, but we needed protections as we slowly migrated to more current Windows environments. Cynet was one of the few providers that continue to protect these older Windows environments." The Attack Alo