Another hacker attack. They attacked the hospital with long-term patients, the police are investigating the case
According to the findings of Aktuálně.cz, criminal investigators are revealing the background to the hacker attack on the aftercare hospital. Hackers attacked a medical facility in Horažďovice last week, knocking out part of its information systems. The hospital now operates without restrictions. The National Office for Cyber and Information Security consulted with the facility management on how to prepare for such attacks in the future.
Illustration frame
Illustration frame Photo: Shutterstock
Czech Radio drew attention to the cyber incident , whose attack was confirmed by a businessman from the field. However, the name of the infected device was unknown. However, the daily Aktuálně.cz has now found out that hackers have chosen the Hospital of Aftercare in Horažďovice. The hospital with 140 beds is focused on helping the long-term sick. It provides, for example, rehabilitation for movement diseases, but also takes care of patients in the terminal stage of the disease.
"On Tuesday, the District Public Prosecutor's Office in Klatovy received a record of the commencement of criminal proceedings concerning the attack on the computer system of the Horažďovice Aftercare Hospital by an unknown perpetrator," confirmed Aktuálně.cz, the chief prosecutor of the Klatovy Public Prosecutor's Office.
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Hacker / IT / Programmer
The attack began last Thursday and continued until the following day. Hackers successfully hacked the hospital's network system. "An unknown perpetrator misused, damaged or deleted some data, thus temporarily restricting a certain segment of the information infrastructure," the plaintiff Vítovcová described. "He caused a total of 150,000 crowns in damage to the hospital," she added.
Specialists from the cybercrime department
The attack is clarified by specialists from the Regional Police Headquarters in Pilsen. Spokeswoman Dana Landman only confirmed their deployment, she did not give further details about the attack. "Police officers from the team specialized in cybercrime, from the economic crime department, have initiated criminal proceedings on suspicion of committing an offense of unauthorized access to a computer system and information carrier," Landmanová told Aktuálně.cz.
The hospital hospitalizes 1,100 patients a year, and then provides treatment to seven and a half thousand people. It is not clear whether she had to limit her care on the days of the attack due to the disruption of the network. "It provides all medical care and services without restrictions. If similar incidents have occurred or are occurring in any of the hospitals in the Pilsen Region in the past, we usually do not comment on them so as not to disrupt the investigation," hospital spokesman Jiří Kokoška told Aktuálně.cz.
Horažďovice aftercare hospital.
Horažďovice aftercare hospital. | Photo: nemocnicekp.cz
According to the National Office for Cyber and Information Security, the attack was not crippling. He did not send his people to the scene, as he does during large-scale attacks. "However, we provided the affected entity with our methodology and advice for managing similar incidents and, in general, with information and instructions for better security of systems," NÚKIB spokesman Jiří Táborský told Aktuálně.cz.
In the last two months of last year, the number of cyber attacks in healthcare in Central Europe increased by 145 percent. Hacker activities are directly linked to the state of emergency due to the coronavirus epidemic. They usually penetrate extortion viruses into hospital systems, such as Ryuk, Sodinokibi or Defray.
Infected email as from a friend
"Today, these attacks seek to exploit the covid-19 situation. Hospitals are very vulnerable to the deployment of security mechanisms, which the attackers are well aware of. In critical situations such as this, institutions often resort to will pay, "René Pospíšil, manager of the Czech branch of the company Bitdefender, which deals with cyber protection, told Aktuálně.cz earlier.
This is usually a so-called phishing attack. The hacker enters the hospital system via an email that looks like a message from a known user with whom the recipient is in regular contact. Beforehand, it finds out with whom the target person is connected or what weaknesses the protection of the hospital has. Hackers often target system administrators to gain complete network access. He then makes the files inaccessible and asks for a ransom for decrypting them.
Related
The hospital in Brno was attacked by an extortion virus, and the hospital called in a crisis IT manager
Illustration / IT expert / Hacker / Computer / Internet / Foreign / Information / Networks / Internet / Threat / Disinformation
The biggest targets of hackers in the Czech Republic last year were the teaching hospitals in Brno and Benešov. As Aktuálně.cz pointed out, the Defray virus attacked in Brno. The system was renewed by the hospital for several weeks, a specialist from the General University Hospital in Prague had to help. According to Czech Radio, the system of the hospital in Benešov was ruled out by hackers using the Ryuk virus, which is common in the Russian environment. He caused damage for 40 million crowns.
Illustration frame
Illustration frame Photo: Shutterstock
Czech Radio drew attention to the cyber incident , whose attack was confirmed by a businessman from the field. However, the name of the infected device was unknown. However, the daily Aktuálně.cz has now found out that hackers have chosen the Hospital of Aftercare in Horažďovice. The hospital with 140 beds is focused on helping the long-term sick. It provides, for example, rehabilitation for movement diseases, but also takes care of patients in the terminal stage of the disease.
"On Tuesday, the District Public Prosecutor's Office in Klatovy received a record of the commencement of criminal proceedings concerning the attack on the computer system of the Horažďovice Aftercare Hospital by an unknown perpetrator," confirmed Aktuálně.cz, the chief prosecutor of the Klatovy Public Prosecutor's Office.
Related
There are almost half as many cyber attacks on hospitals in two months, and a state of emergency is being used
Hacker / IT / Programmer
The attack began last Thursday and continued until the following day. Hackers successfully hacked the hospital's network system. "An unknown perpetrator misused, damaged or deleted some data, thus temporarily restricting a certain segment of the information infrastructure," the plaintiff Vítovcová described. "He caused a total of 150,000 crowns in damage to the hospital," she added.
Specialists from the cybercrime department
The attack is clarified by specialists from the Regional Police Headquarters in Pilsen. Spokeswoman Dana Landman only confirmed their deployment, she did not give further details about the attack. "Police officers from the team specialized in cybercrime, from the economic crime department, have initiated criminal proceedings on suspicion of committing an offense of unauthorized access to a computer system and information carrier," Landmanová told Aktuálně.cz.
The hospital hospitalizes 1,100 patients a year, and then provides treatment to seven and a half thousand people. It is not clear whether she had to limit her care on the days of the attack due to the disruption of the network. "It provides all medical care and services without restrictions. If similar incidents have occurred or are occurring in any of the hospitals in the Pilsen Region in the past, we usually do not comment on them so as not to disrupt the investigation," hospital spokesman Jiří Kokoška told Aktuálně.cz.
Horažďovice aftercare hospital.
Horažďovice aftercare hospital. | Photo: nemocnicekp.cz
According to the National Office for Cyber and Information Security, the attack was not crippling. He did not send his people to the scene, as he does during large-scale attacks. "However, we provided the affected entity with our methodology and advice for managing similar incidents and, in general, with information and instructions for better security of systems," NÚKIB spokesman Jiří Táborský told Aktuálně.cz.
In the last two months of last year, the number of cyber attacks in healthcare in Central Europe increased by 145 percent. Hacker activities are directly linked to the state of emergency due to the coronavirus epidemic. They usually penetrate extortion viruses into hospital systems, such as Ryuk, Sodinokibi or Defray.
Infected email as from a friend
"Today, these attacks seek to exploit the covid-19 situation. Hospitals are very vulnerable to the deployment of security mechanisms, which the attackers are well aware of. In critical situations such as this, institutions often resort to will pay, "René Pospíšil, manager of the Czech branch of the company Bitdefender, which deals with cyber protection, told Aktuálně.cz earlier.
This is usually a so-called phishing attack. The hacker enters the hospital system via an email that looks like a message from a known user with whom the recipient is in regular contact. Beforehand, it finds out with whom the target person is connected or what weaknesses the protection of the hospital has. Hackers often target system administrators to gain complete network access. He then makes the files inaccessible and asks for a ransom for decrypting them.
Related
The hospital in Brno was attacked by an extortion virus, and the hospital called in a crisis IT manager
Illustration / IT expert / Hacker / Computer / Internet / Foreign / Information / Networks / Internet / Threat / Disinformation
The biggest targets of hackers in the Czech Republic last year were the teaching hospitals in Brno and Benešov. As Aktuálně.cz pointed out, the Defray virus attacked in Brno. The system was renewed by the hospital for several weeks, a specialist from the General University Hospital in Prague had to help. According to Czech Radio, the system of the hospital in Benešov was ruled out by hackers using the Ryuk virus, which is common in the Russian environment. He caused damage for 40 million crowns.
