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Medical-Targeted Ransomware Is Breaking Records After Change Healthcare’s $22M Payout


Cybersecurity firm Recorded Future counted 44 health-care-related incidents in the month after Change Healthcare’s payment came to light—the most it’s ever seen in a single month.

In April, cybersecurity firm Recorded Future tracked 44 cases of cybercriminal groups targeting health care organizations with ransomware attacks, stealing their data, encrypting their systems, and demanding payments from the companies while holding their networks hostage. While Liska notes that he can't be sure of the reason for that spike, he argues it's unlikely to be a coincidence that it follows in the wake of Change Healthcare's eight-figure payout to the hacker group known as AlphV or BlackCat that was tormenting the company. When WIRED reached out to United Healthcare for comment, a spokesperson for the company pointed to the overall rise in health care ransomware attacks beginning in 2022, suggesting that the overall trend predated Change's incident.

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