Los Angeles Hospital Paid $17,000 Ransom to Hackers to Decrypt Its Medical Records
We had earlier reported that hackers had attacked Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles with ransomware and had demanded a ransom of $3.6 million from the hospital authorities to decrypt its files. The hospital has succumbed to the hackers' blackmail and paid the amount of $17,000 in bitcoin.
Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center President Allen Stefanek said Wednesday that his hospital paid a ransom of $17,000 in bitcoins to regain control of its IT systems after an attack on its computer network. In a statement issued by the hospital, Stefanek said paying the ransom was the “fastest and most effective way” to regain access to the affected systems, which had been down since Feb. 5 and had hampered staff’s ability to communicate electronically.
Stefanek said there was no evidence that any patient or employee information was accessed by the so-called malware and that the hospital will fully restore access to its computer system this Monday.
"Patient care has not been compromised in any way," Stefanek said.
The president said the attack locked them out of their systems by encrypting files, which only the hackers had the decryption key for. He said the hospital notified law enforcement and computer experts worked feverishly to restore access to the system and uncover the source.
The malware was infiltrated by an as-yet-unidentified hospital staff member. However, the ransomware had encrypted all the hospital’s files, making it impossible for the hospital to carry out its normal operations. The hospital actually transferred patients to other nearby hospitals to avoid their suffering.
The FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department are working to identify the hacker or hackers responsible for the intrusion, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said Wednesday.
