{"id":2190646,"date":"2024-03-02T09:05:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-02T14:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ransomware-attack-targets-u-s-healthcare-payment-processor-in-most-serious-incident-of-its-kind\/"},"modified":"2024-03-02T09:13:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-02T14:13:19","slug":"ransomware-attack-targets-u-s-healthcare-payment-processor-in-most-serious-incident-of-its-kind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ransomware-attack-targets-u-s-healthcare-payment-processor-in-most-serious-incident-of-its-kind\/","title":{"rendered":"Major ransomware attack hits U.S. healthcare payment processor, deemed the worst incident ever"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fransomware-attack-targets-u-s-healthcare-payment-processor-in-most-serious-incident-of-its-kind%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2190646&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">American Hospital Association President and CEO Rick Pollack delivers opening remarks. (Photo by \u2063Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>OAN\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/tag\/brooke-mallory\">Brooke Mallory<\/a><br \/>6:16 PM \u2013 Friday, March 1, 2024<\/h2>\n<p>The \u200bCEO of the American Hospital \u200bAssociation, Rick Pollack, declared\u200b on Thursday night that the aftermath\u2062 of a recent ransomware attack \u2064on\u2063 the nation\u2019s largest health care\u2062 payment \u200dprocessor is &#8220;the most serious incident of\u2062 its\u200b kind leveled against a U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/peta-defends-pro-life-activist\/\" title=\"PETA Defends Pro-Life Activist\">health care organization<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-3\" style=\"min-width: 320px; min-height: 50px; text-align: center;\">  \t<script>  \t\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-3'); });  \t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-slot__ad-label\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>A widely used program \u2063that helps healthcare professionals handle insurance claims and patient payments has been\u200b rendered useless\u2062 by the\u2064 attack on \u200bChange \u200dHealthcare. As a standard countermeasure,\u2064 the corporation has \u200btaken the majority\u200d of its systems offline \u200dto stop \u200bthe attack from spreading.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;Nine days into the attack\u2062 on Change Healthcare, a health care technology company that is part of Optum and owned by UnitedHealth \u2063Group, \u2062effects\u2063 are \u2063continuing to be felt throughout the entire health\u2064 care system,&#8221; Pollack said in a news release.\u2064 The American Hospital Association \u200dis \u200dthe country\u2019s largest healthcare industry group.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The impact of the outage on small \u2064and midsize healthcare providers has\u200d been\u200b catastrophic. Physicians told <em>CNBC<\/em> that the disruption has stopped insurance companies from\u200b paying \u200cdoctors and has even stopped them\u200d from electronically-filling prescriptions.<\/p>\n<p>However, Change \u2064announced later\u2063 on \u2064Friday that it has finished a new workaround\u2063 for its electronic \u200bprescription service, \u2063which\u200b is \u2064now\u2062 accessible to\u2064 all users \u200dright away.<\/p>\n<p>According \u200cto Change, \u2063it\u200c handles a third of all patient\u2063 records in the\u2064 United States and executes 15 billion health care transactions annually.<\/p>\n<p>A representative \u2064for UnitedHealth Group, the parent firm\u200b of Change Healthcare, said via email that thousands of pharmacies are utilizing &#8220;offline \u2062processing workarounds.&#8221;\u2063 According \u200dto the spokesperson, over 90% of the more than 70,000 pharmacies in the United States that\u200d utilize\u2064 Change Healthcare\u2019s\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/billionaire-bitcoin-investor-still-predicts-bitcoin-will-hit-250000-by-2022\/\" title=\"Billionaire Bitcoin Investor Still Predicts Bitcoin Will Hit 0,000 By 2022\">payment processor<\/a> use other methods for processing \u2063payments.<\/p>\n<p>On its\u200c website, UnitedHealth Group disclosed that it had learned about the attack \u2063on February 21<sup>st<\/sup> and that hackers had used Alphv, a type \u2063of ransomware.<\/p>\n<p>Although \u200cit seems to have partially recovered, a \u200cconsortium of\u200b American \u200dand \u2062European\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-red-wave-of-conservative-women-elected-to-congress\/\" title=\"The Red Wave of Conservative Women Elected to Congress\">law enforcement<\/a> \u200bagencies\u2063 announced an operation to disrupt Alpv in \u2063December.<\/p>\n<p>A representative for Change Healthcare said in a statement that the\u200b organization is collaborating with U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-state-2024-race-shapes-up-as-candidates-vie-to-replace-katie-porter\/\" title=\"California's 2024 race intensifies as contenders compete for Katie Porter's seat.\">law \u200benforcement<\/a> and has hired \u200dtwo significant cybersecurity firms, Mandiant, which is owned\u200c by Google, and\u200d Palo Alto, to\u200d assist with recovery.<\/p>\n<p>According to an email from the FBI on Friday afternoon, support is \u200bbeing provided by the Department\u200b of \u2064Health\u2064 and Human \u200bServices, the Cybersecurity\u2062 and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the FBI itself.<\/p>\n<p>Stay\u200c informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for\u200b free. Subscribe here. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/alerts\">https:\/\/www.oann.com\/alerts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"rc-widget-10bad2\" data-rc-widget data-widget-host=\"habitat\" data-endpoint=\"\/\/trends.revcontent.com\" data-widget-id=\"278641\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"dpsp-share-text\" style=\"margin-bottom:10px\"> \t\t \t\tShare this\u2063 post!\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>Fulton County\u2063 Judge McAfee to Rule on the Fani Willis \u2063Case, James Biden &#8216;Repaying&#8217; Loan with China Money, and \u200dFBI Investigates Balloon<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>Activists and Teachers Sue \u200bTemecula\u200c Valley Unified School District Over Transgender Parental Notification Policy \u2064and\u2064 Critical Race Theory Ban<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>Texas Republican Lawmaker Rep. Lance Gooden Sheds Light on\u2063 Federal Funding Loopholes Regarding Illegal\u2064 Immigration<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>Consumer \u200dSentiment Report Shows Slight Decline in\u200b February\u2064 Compared\u2062 to Previous \u2063Month<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>Elon Musk Alleges Breach of\u2062 Contract and\u2064 Departure from Original Mission in AI Development<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>Stock Market&#8217;s Interest in AI\u200d Rises with \u200cNvidia&#8217;s Rally and Potential Impact \u200don Various Sectors<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>UnitedHealth Group Faces Major\u200c Data\u2063 Breach as Hackers \u2063Claim to Have Stolen \u2062Millions of Sensitive Records<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>Legal Battle Ensues as X Challenges Center for Countering\u200c Digital Hate&#8217;s \u2064Criticism of Hate Speech<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> rnrn  <\/p>\n<h2> \u200c What actions are Change Healthcare and UnitedHealth Group taking to recover from the \u2063attack<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u2063 OAN\u2019s Brooke Mallory<\/p>\n<p>6:16 \u200cPM \u2013 Friday, March 1, 2024<\/p>\n<p>The CEO of the American Hospital Association, \u200dRick Pollack,\u2062 declared on Thursday night that the aftermath\u2062 of a recent ransomware attack on the \u2063nation\u2019s \u2063largest healthcare payment processor is &#8220;the most serious incident \u200dof its\u2062 kind leveled \u200cagainst\u2064 a U.S. healthcare organization.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A widely used program that \u2063helps\u200c healthcare professionals handle insurance claims and patient \u200dpayments \u2062has been\u200b rendered useless\u2063 by the attack \u200bon Change Healthcare. As a standard countermeasure, \u200cthe corporation has\u2063 taken the majority of its systems offline to stop the attack \u200bfrom spreading.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Nine days\u200d into the attack on Change Healthcare, a healthcare technology company that is part of Optum \u200band owned by \u2064UnitedHealth \u2064Group, effects\u200c are continuing \u2064to be\u2064 felt throughout the entire\u200b healthcare system,&#8221; \u200bPollack said in a news \u200drelease. The American Hospital \u2064Association is the \u2063country\u2019s largest\u2064 healthcare industry \u2062group.<\/p>\n<p>The impact\u200d of the\u200b outage on small and\u200b midsize healthcare providers has \u200dbeen\u200d catastrophic. Physicians \u2062told CNBC that the disruption \u2062has stopped insurance companies from paying doctors and has\u200b even \u2064stopped them from electronically filling prescriptions.<\/p>\n<p>However, Change announced\u200d later on Friday that it has finished \u200ba new workaround \u200bfor \u2064its electronic prescription service, which is\u200d now accessible to \u2064all\u2062 users right\u200c away.<\/p>\n<p>According to Change,\u2064 it \u2064handles\u2063 a third\u200b of all patient records in the United States and executes 15 \u200cbillion healthcare transactions annually.<\/p>\n<p>A representative for UnitedHealth Group, \u200bthe parent firm of Change Healthcare, said \u200bvia email that thousands of \u200cpharmacies are \u2064utilizing &#8220;offline\u200c processing\u2062 workarounds.&#8221; According to the spokesperson, over 90% of \u200dthe more than 70,000 pharmacies in the United\u2064 States that utilize Change Healthcare\u2019s \u200bpayment processor use other methods for processing \u200bpayments.<\/p>\n<p>On its website, UnitedHealth Group disclosed\u200c that\u200d it had \u200dlearned\u2064 about\u2062 the attack on February 21st\u200c and that hackers had used Alphv, a type of\u2063 ransomware.<\/p>\n<p>Although it seems\u2063 to have partially recovered, a consortium of \u200bAmerican and \u200dEuropean law\u200c enforcement \u2062agencies announced an\u200b operation to disrupt Alpv\u200c in\u2064 December.<\/p>\n<p>A representative\u200d for \u2064Change \u200dHealthcare said in a statement \u2063that the organization is \u2064collaborating with U.S. law enforcement and has hired two significant\u200c cybersecurity firms, Mandiant, \u2064which is \u2064owned by Google, and Palo Alto, to assist with recovery.<\/p>\n<p>According to an\u200b email from the \u2064FBI on \u2062Friday af<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>American Hospital Association CEO Rick Pollack addressed the recent ransomware attack on the country&#8217;s largest healthcare payment processor, emphasizing its consequences<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1866,"featured_media":2190647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/c3.oann.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-1393592162.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[542],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2190646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oann"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/c3.oann.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-1393592162.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1866"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2190646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2190647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2190646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2190646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2190646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}