Hospital hit by ransomware pays ransom of 40 Bitcoin

After more than a week from ransomware attack suffered by Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, the President and CEO Allen Stefanek he announced that the management decided to pay the ransom to regain the use of computer networks. The manager has stressed that it will pay "only" 40 Bitcoin, and not the 9000 that had been declared by the national press.After more than a week from ransomware attack suffered by Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, the President and CEO Allen Stefanek he announced that the management decided to pay the ransom to regain the use of computer networks. The manager has stressed that it will pay "only" 40 Bitcoin, and not the 9000 that had been declared by the national press.

It is still a very strong figure for a malware of this type. A ransomware is software that once flourished on a system inhibits access to some files stored until the payment of a ransom. Usually they require a few hundred dollars, but in the case of a sensitive target (such as the Hollywood Presbyterian M. C.) is normal to attend demands far more substantial.

Stefanek said it will pay 40 Bitcoin, equivalent at current exchange rates to approximately $ 17,000, categorically denying the weekend news that spoke of a ransom of 3.6 million dollars. Given the importance of the data, the hospital leadership decided to act "in the most efficient and fastest way to recover systems and administrative functions".

Stefanek we read in the letter released by the hospital networks have been restored last Monday, and there are no elements to say that the attackers had access to sensitive patient data. The problem of "Cryptovirus" however, is not curbed in any way, and the example of the Hollywood Presbyterian M. C. is only the last of the most egregious cases.

A problem that seems to have increased considerably in scope in recent months, even in Italy. In the beautiful country we have recently witnessed a wave of "cryptolocker" aimed at businesses and consumers. It is one of the most frequent attacks in the world of cyber crime as well as the inherent harm of malware features a wonderful revenue opportunity for the aggressor.