Ransomware attack blamed for Change Healthcare outage stalling US prescriptions TechCrunch

pCommentppAn ongoing cyberattack at US health tech giant Change Healthcare that sparked outages and disruption to hospitals and pharmacies across the US for the past week was caused by ransomware TechCrunch has learnedppA healthcare executive with knowledge of the incident who was on the call briefed by the companys executives said the healthcare tech giant attributed the cyberattack to the BlackCat ransomware groupppReuters first reported the news linking the cyberattack to BlackCat citing two people familiar with the incidentppA spokesperson for Change Healthcare did not immediately respond to a request for commentppBlackCat also often referred to as ALPHV has not yet publicly claimed responsibility for the cyberattack Ransomware and extortion gangs typically publish portions of a victims stolen data to extort a ransom demand Ransomware attacks typically scramble a victims files and demand a ransom to receive the decryption key Newer cyberattacks often involve cybercriminals stealing a victims data before encrypting itppIts not yet known if patient data was stolen in the ransomware attackppUnitedHealth Group UHG the parent company of Change Healthcare and the largest US health insurance provider said in a government regulatory filing last week that it identified a suspected nationstate threat actor in its systems but did not attribute the cyberattack to a specific government or stateppThe accuracy of UHGs cyberattack attribution remains unclear as cybersecurity researchers have not previously linked the BlackCat gang to a nationstate or governmentppChange Healthcare is an American healthcare tech giant and one of the countrys largest processors of prescription medications handling prescriptions and billing for more than 67000 pharmacies across the US healthcare system The company handles 15 billion healthcare transactions annually or about one in three US patient recordsppChange Healthcare merged with healthcare provider Optum in 2022 as part of a 78 billion deal under UnitedHealth Group The deal allowed Optum broad access to patient records handled by Change HealthcareppUnitedHealth Group collectively provides over 53 million US customers with benefit plans and another 5 million outside of the United States according to its latest fullyear earnings report Optum serves about 103 million US customersppThe cyberattack at Change Healthcare began on February 21 early on the US East Coast causing widespread outages at pharmacies and healthcare facilities Change Healthcare said it took much of its systems offline to expel the hackers from its systemsppChange Healthcares incident tracker page shows nearly all of its customerfacing systems remain offlineppHospitals healthcare providers and pharmacies have reported that they are unable to fulfill or process prescriptions through patients insuranceppThe American Hospital Association AHA which represents more than 5000 hospitals and healthcare providers told its members in a notice last Friday to consider disconnection from Optum until it is independently deemed safe to reconnect and warned of significant cascading and disruptive effects caused by the cyberattackppColumbia University which runs one of New Yorks largest hospitals told staff on Friday to disconnect all its systems from UnitedHealth Group Change Healthcare and Optum and blocked access to their email domainsppTricare the US militarys health insurance provider for active military personnel said in a statement that the cyberattack at Change Healthcare is impacting all military pharmacies worldwide and some retail pharmacies nationallyppBlackCatALPHV have previously taken credit for cyberattacks targeting US healthcare giant Norton newssharing site Reddit and mortgage and loan giant Fidelity National FinancialppDo you work at LoanDepot and know more about the incident You can contact Zack Whittaker on Signal and WhatsApp at 1 6467558849 or by email You also can contact us via SecureDropppUS health tech giant Change Healthcare hit by cyberattackppppEvery weekday and Sunday you can get the best of TechCrunchs coverageppStartups are the core of TechCrunch so get our best coverage delivered weeklyppThe latest Fintech news and analysis delivered every TuesdayppTechCrunch Mobility is your destination for transportation news and insightppBy submitting your email you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice
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