{"id":6192,"date":"2016-06-14T10:09:21","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T00:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backupassist.com\/blog\/?p=6192"},"modified":"2016-06-14T10:09:21","modified_gmt":"2016-06-14T00:09:21","slug":"samsam-ransomware-attacks-us-hospitals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backupassist.com\/blog\/samsam-ransomware-attacks-us-hospitals","title":{"rendered":"Samsam ransomware attack on U.S. Hospitals threatens patient’s lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Heartless hackers recently held 10 U.S. hospitals and the lives of sick people\u00a0at ransom.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For $18,500 US, they endangered Washington and Baltimore patients by infecting key medical systems.<\/p>\n

The hackers did this\u00a0by targeting and infecting the hospital’s not-for-profit parent organization, MedStar, with a nasty new ransomware<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The ransomware\u2014Samsam\u2014requires no human interaction to activate. Unlike most ransomware, which targets humans, it targets servers instead.<\/p>\n

According to MedStar spokesperson Ann Nickels, lives could have been lost if not for the quick thinking and preparedness of their IT staff.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Samsam-Ransomware-Emergency\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When Samsam hit, MedStar’s IT department detected the intrusion. Immediately, they shut down\u00a0most of their network operations.<\/p>\n

It was only because they had backups on hand that they were able to restore three main clinical systems\u00a0and protect the lives of their admitted patients.<\/p>\n

Not only did the act protect the sick, it\u00a0foiled the plans of the SAMSAM attackers, who were upstaged by the IT staff.<\/p>\n

It’s not the first hospital to be attacked this year. Hackers have learned with a few lines of code they can freeze medical systems and delay patient treatment, holding\u00a0lives at gunpoint.<\/p>\n

With so much at stake, most hospitals hastily pay the ransomers. And afterwards, the hackers seem to be encouraged.<\/p>\n

\"Samsam-hits-hospitals\"<\/a>
The Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles: another target of Ransomware.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Earlier this year, a Los Angeles hospital paid US $17,000 to ransomware attackers. Directly after,\u00a0dozens of hospitals in California, Nevada and Kentucky were fresh victims of the ransomware attacks.<\/p>\n

Just a week before the MedStar\u00a0incident, the FBI sent out a flash warning about Samsam, but it did little to mute it. The only thing that did was a proper backup strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s another example of why backups for organizations\u2014both profit and not-for-profit\u2014are not an option, but a necessity. Even the sick aren’t safe from ransomware.<\/p>\n

These attacks come in the wake of criminal coders\u00a0starting to offer\u00a0ransomware-as-a-service<\/a>,\u00a0selling\u00a0their software\u00a0to would-be blackmailers.<\/p>\n

The age of ransomware that\u00a0started in 2013 with CryptoLocker seems to be getting worse before it gets better.<\/p>\n

For any business or organization, big or small, we suggest using a reliable\u00a0backup and recovery program like BackupAssist<\/a> and implementing a proper\u00a0backup strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heartless hackers recently held 10 U.S. hospitals and the lives of sick people\u00a0at ransom. For $18,500 US, they endangered Washington and Baltimore patients by infecting key medical systems. The hackers did this\u00a0by targeting and infecting the hospital’s not-for-profit parent organization, MedStar, with a nasty new ransomware. The ransomware\u2014Samsam\u2014requires no human interaction to activate. Unlike most … Read more Samsam ransomware attack on U.S. Hospitals threatens patient’s lives<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,23],"tags":[93,453,311,454],"class_list":["post-6192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interest","category-news","tag-backup","tag-hospitals","tag-ransomware","tag-samsam"],"yoast_head":"\nSamsam Ransomware attack on U.S. Hospitals threatens lives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ten U.S. hospitals and the lives of sick people were recently held ransom. 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