In this ransomware alert released Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020: Ransomware Activity Targeting the Healthcare and Public Health Sector, the FBI and other federal agencies warned that cybercriminals are unleashing a wave of data-scrambling extortion attempts against the U.S. healthcare system that could lock up their information systems just as nationwide cases of COVID-19 are spiking.
This joint cybersecurity advisory was coauthored by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This advisory describes the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by cybercriminals against targets in the Healthcare and Public Health Sector (HPH) to infect systems with Ryuk ransomware for financial gain.
Should your organization be a victim of ransomware, CISA strongly recommends responding by using the Ransomware Response Checklist located in CISA and MS-ISAC’s Joint Ransomware Guide, which contains steps for detection and analysis as well as containment and eradication.
Contact Information
CISA, FBI, and HHS recommend identifying and having on hand the following contact information for ready use should your organization become a victim of a ransomware incident. Consider contacting these organizations for mitigation and response assistance or for purpose of notification.
State and Local Response Contacts
IT/IT Security Team – Centralized Cyber Incident Reporting
State and Local Law Enforcement
Fusion Center
Managed/Security Service Providers
Cyber Insurance
To report suspicious or criminal activity related to information found in this Joint Cybersecurity Advisory, contact your local FBI field office at www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field, or the FBI’s 24/7 Cyber Watch (CyWatch) at (855) 292-3937 or by email at CyWatch@fbi.gov. When available, please include the following information regarding the incident: date, time, and location of the incident; type of activity; number of people affected; type of equipment used for the activity; the name of the submitting company or organization; and a designated point of contact. To request incident response resources or technical assistance related to these threats, contact CISA at Central@cisa.gov.
Additionally, see the CISA and MS-ISAC’s Joint Ransomware Guide for information on contacting—and what to expect from contacting—federal asset response contacts and federal threat response contacts.
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