Has UnitedHealth Group paid ransomware attackers $22m in bitcoin?
For a couple of weeks now, hospitals and pharmacies in the U.S.A. have been seriously impacted by the healthcare giant’s inability to process payments due to the attack. In some cases, this has left patients without life-saving medication and is said to have impacted every hospital in the country.
Whilst they have not admitted to having paid a ransom, analysts saw $22m in bitcoin change hands (wallets) in recent days and consensus of opinion is that the attackers were paid.
UnitedHealth Group is making frequent updates to is website and claims to be making significant progress in mitigating the impact on consumers and care providers.
Whilst it is unlikely we will ever found out exactly how the attackers were able to gain entry to their systems, such attacks are not just limited to corporate behemoths like UnitedHealth Group and with the recent expansion in the use of Artificial Intelligence, attacks are being automated and can impact any computer user connected to the Internet, including small businesses in the U.K.
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