Harris County's public mental health provider appears to have fallen victim to a ransomware, the second suspected cyberattack on sensitive patient and employee data in less than three months.
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“Last Tuesday, November 7, the Harris Center for Mental Health and Disability experienced a ransomware attack that resulted in the encryption of certain employee work files, making them inaccessible to employees,” the Harris Center and the Harris County Office of the Attorney General said in a joint statement issued Wednesday.
Harris Center officials have shut down its network in an effort to stop the spread of the attack, which has limited staff access to records and caused “ some delays in patient care ,” the center’s Harris County office and Judge Hidalgo ’s office said in a statement . The Harris Center is not releasing any further information about the incident “ on the advice of its cybersecurity experts . ” The incident has been reported to law enforcement, according to the joint statement.
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The breach is the second apparent cyberattack on sensitive Harris Center records in less than three months. Last August, an attack by a Russian ransomware group compromised the personal and medical records of about 600,000 mental health patients in the Houston. The group exploited a vulnerability in the software to gain access to confidential records from multiple companies and public institutions across a variety of industries, according to Homeland Security. The information leaked in the August breach included name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, health insurance information and “protected health information.”
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The possible reasons behind a cyberattack can be many and varied. One of the main reasons is financial motivation. Cyberattacks can come from criminals seeking to steal money or personal information to sell on the internet underworld. In addition, attacks can come from competitors or hacker groups looking to gain market advantages or cause damage to a company.
Another possible reason is espionage. Cyberattacks can originate from states or groups that wish to obtain information for strategic, technological, or political decisions. In addition, cyberattacks can be carried out to cause unrest or disruption in a community or organization.
Finally, cyberattacks can be carried out for extortion purposes. Attackers can break into a system and lock down an organization's files or services, demanding a ransom to unlock them. This type of attack is called ransomware and has become very popular in recent years.
Source: chron
