At Los Angels the computers were completely down for a week after some malicious software ended up its internal network. Patients were transferred to other hospitals because of the outage.

Hackers have held California Hospital’s Network Hostage for $3.6 Million

They connected medical devices and portals as well. The attackers at Los Angels have asked for $3.6 million to decode the system and also hospital files, COS Reports. The staff at Los Angels were asked to turn fax machines, landline telephones and to write medical reports on paper.

According to COS, the incident was unexpected, like a hospital staffer clicked a malicious link that eventually spread the malware throughout network. The hospital management didn’t respond to a request as it hadn’t expected on how far the attack has spread, what kind of malicious software has infected its network.

Ransomeware is a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid, usually a digital currency like bitcoin. That currency is recommended because it is difficult to trace once it is paid out. If the ransom is not paid in time, the computer usually display a message with a countdown timer that the data stored  on computers will be removed.

Hospital management have been asked to keep the systems offline until they hear otherwise and they were also asked to keep documentation of patient in the paper form. Essential functions like lab work, Pharmacy and CT scans have been affected by ransomeware.

The hospital’s President and CEO, Allen Stefanek, said the situation was declared an internal emergency, telling NBC LA that the hospital’s emergency room systems have been sporadically impacted by the malware.

So, this is all about the hackers who have held hospital’s network hostage for $3.6 Million. If you loved this article, feel free to share it !

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