In February 2024, Change Healthcare, one of the largest healthcare IT companies in the United States, fell victim to a devastating ransomware attack. The breach compromised sensitive data, including patient records, financial information, and personal details, in what has been labeled “the most significant cyberattack on the U.S. healthcare system” by the American Hospital Association (AMA).
This ransomware attack has reportedly cost the UnitedHealth Group, the owner of Change Healthcare, an incredible sum of $22 million dollars in a bid to the hackers to recover their ransomed data. According to the AMA, the costs of this attack have forced medical practices to “go without revenue” for weeks and other reports show UnitedHealth could take months to fully recover from this attack.
The Change Healthcare cyber-attack highlights the devastating effects of cyber-crime on not only our economy, but also on our very wellbeing. So, how did we get here?
The Significance of the Change Healthcare Cyber Attack
The cyber vulnerabilities in the United States’ healthcare system are not news, especially in the tech space. It is well-known that medical devices, medical information databases, and office technology in medical practices are all severely outdated when it comes to cybersecurity. For whatever reason, whether it’s monetary, lack of awareness, or undesirable disruptions in care, the medical field struggles to maintain adequate and modern cybersecurity practices.
In the case of Change Healthcare, attackers employed sophisticated tactics to infiltrate systems, exploiting vulnerabilities and leveraging encryption to lock down crucial data. One of the prominent cybersecurity challenges highlighted by the Change Healthcare ransomware attack is the vulnerability of interconnected healthcare networks. With the increasing digitization of medical records and the adoption of interconnected systems for patient care, healthcare organizations have become prime targets for cybercriminals seeking to exploit weaknesses in these complex networks. Moreover, the reliance on legacy systems and outdated security protocols within the healthcare sector further exacerbates the risk of successful cyber-attacks.
This incident underscored the critical cybersecurity challenges facing the healthcare industry, where the consequences of breaches extend far beyond financial losses, potentially jeopardizing patient safety and privacy. Additionally, the Change Healthcare incident sheds light on the growing threat posed by ransomware attacks, which have become increasingly prevalent and sophisticated in recent years.
Ransomware not only disrupts healthcare operations but also poses significant ethical dilemmas, as organizations must weigh the decision to pay ransom against the potential consequences for patient care and data security. Furthermore, the rise of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) models has lowered the barrier to entry for cybercriminals, enabling even less experienced hackers to launch devastating attacks. Mitigating the risk of ransomware requires a multi-faceted approach, including robust backup and recovery strategies, proactive threat detection measures, and collaboration between government agencies, industry stakeholders, and cybersecurity experts to disrupt the ransomware ecosystem and hold perpetrators accountable.
What Should Be Done in Light of the Change Healthcare Breach?
There are so many security practices that must be adopted to slow down or prevent the onslaught of ransomware attacks affecting the healthcare industry, as well as many other sectors.
Defending against ransomware attacks requires a multi-layered approach that encompasses both technical and non-technical measures. Here are some effective methods for defending against these types of attacks:
- Regular Data Backups: Maintain regular backups of critical data and systems. Ensure that backups are stored securely and are regularly tested for integrity and reliability. This enables organizations to restore their systems and data in the event of a ransomware attack without paying ransom.
- Patch Management: Keep all software and systems up to date with the latest security patches and updates. Vulnerabilities in outdated software are often exploited by ransomware attackers to gain unauthorized access to systems.
- Security Awareness Training: Educate employees about the risks of ransomware and the importance of cybersecurity best practices, such as avoiding suspicious email attachments, links, and websites. Human error is a common entry point for ransomware attacks, so fostering a culture of security awareness is crucial.
- Email and Web Filtering: Implement email and web filtering solutions to block malicious attachments, links, and websites commonly used by ransomware attackers to distribute their malware. This helps prevent malware infections from occurring in the first place.
- Endpoint Protection: Deploy endpoint security solutions, such as antivirus software, anti-malware programs, and endpoint detection and response (EDR) systems, to detect and block ransomware threats on endpoint devices. These solutions can help identify and respond to ransomware attacks in real-time.
- Network Protection: Just as you’d protect endpoints from breaches, network safeguards are just as crucial. By implementing network detection and response (NDR) solutions, you gain insight and set baselines for normal network traffic, allowing you to respond to anomalies in network behaviors.
- Network Segmentation/Microsegmentation: Segment networks to limit the spread of ransomware in the event of a successful breach. By dividing networks into smaller, isolated segments, organizations can contain the impact of ransomware and prevent it from spreading laterally across their infrastructure.
- Access Control: Implement the principle of least privilege by restricting user access to only the resources and privileges necessary for their roles. This limits the potential damage that ransomware can cause by minimizing the number of systems and data accessible to compromised user accounts.
- Incident Response Plan: Develop and regularly test an incident response plan that outlines the steps to take in the event of a ransomware attack. This plan should include procedures for identifying, containing, eradicating, and recovering from ransomware infections, as well as communication protocols for notifying stakeholders and authorities.
- Least Privileged Access (aka Zero Trust): Zero Trust is a security concept built on the idea of limiting access to data and systems to only the most necessary individuals, for limited times, and at the appropriate levels for their position. This is implemented using access controls, continuous multifactor identity verification, contextual behavior analysis, and threat intelligence to grant or deny access to sensitive systems. This is particularly important when dealing with malicious actors attempting attacks through legitimate ports and protocols.
- Data Protection: At the end of the day, this is all about protecting valuable data. It’s crucial for healthcare organizations to protect sensitive data through encryption both at rest and in transit. The beauty of encryption is the ability to safeguard access to data even when other security measures fail by turning that information into unreadable text.
By implementing these proactive measures, organizations can significantly reduce their susceptibility to ransomware attacks and mitigate the potential impact on their operations and data.
Speaking of Encryption and Data Protection: Introducing CyberProtonics
CyberProtonics is the culmination of years of development that addresses the downsides of current encryption standards as well as the powerful threats of today and the near future. Our quantum resistant cryptosystem utilizes a strong, lightweight, and highly efficient encryption algorithm capable of 512 to 10K bit strength without sacrificing speed and performance, even on legacy and low-powered devices. These benchmarks set us far ahead of other well-known and widely implemented encryption standards like AES, RSA, and ChaCha20.
The core principle behind CyberProtonics is simple yet powerful: render stolen data useless to attackers when a breach occurs. In a world where hackers are constantly probing for vulnerabilities, this approach represents a game-changing strategy. By making stolen data indecipherable, CyberProtonics disrupts the hackers’ playbook, thwarting their attempts to exploit compromised information.
But CyberProtonics does more than just render stolen data useless; it also integrates seamlessly with existing security frameworks. By complementing strategies such as least privileged access and contextual-based controls, CyberProtonics enhances the overall security posture of organizations. This layered approach ensures that even if an attacker manages to breach traditional defenses, they will be met with a formidable barrier that renders their efforts futile.
Threats are advancing so quickly that it’s important for healthcare organizations to lock down their data from attackers without disrupting the day-to-day life saving operations they perform. CyberProtonics fills this major security gap by working in tandem with existing and future security solutions. We aren’t here to replace your existing security infrastructure, we’re here to reinforce it by protecting your data no matter where it rests, travels, or is created.
Nick Morpus
Analytical Cyber Security Specialist and PMM. Nick is well-versed in SASE architecture, zero trust, post quantum cryptography, and general network security practices/experience.
