The Justice Department revealed U.S. hospitals have paid millions of dollars in ransom to a cybercriminal network with suspected ties to Russian intelligence, according to Becker’s.
The FBI has been investigating the ransomware gang for years, and the Justice Department indicted nine members on Sept. 7, offering multimillion dollar rewards for tips leading to the alleged criminals, who are still at large.
According to the indictment, the men are accused of using TrickBot to hack computers and Conti to lock them until ransom was paid. The group has targeted around 300 organizations in the U.S., including hospitals.
Even after the cyberattack is resolved, costs are high to restore IT systems.
Healthcare companies overall are spending more than any other industry to recover from cyberattacks, according to an IBM analysis reported by The Wall Street Journal. Healthcare companies spend on average nearly $11 million to recover from a cyberattack, compared to around $6 million for financial companies and $3 million for retailers. Read more.
