Change Healthcare, a leading U.S. healthcare technology company has acknowledged a cyberattack targeting its systems. The company released a brief statement revealing a network disruption stemming from a cybersecurity issue.
Like other previous cases, this is another blow in the healthcare sector. Cybercriminals are getting smarter in exploiting these facilities with weak security protection.
Change Healthcare Cyberattack
The US healthcare giant Change Healthcare is the latest victim of a cyberattack following a sudden network interruption that took place on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
The cyber incident commenced early Wednesday, Feb. 21, on the U.S. East Coast, per the incident tracker. While Change Healthcare did not reveal the specifics of the attack, most of its login pages were inaccessible or offline at the time of reporting.
"Once we became aware of the outside threat, in the interest of protecting our partners and patients, we took immediate action to disconnect our systems to prevent further impact. The disruption is expected to last at least through the day," Change Healthcare wrote on its status page.
Related Article: US Medical Transcription Firm Hit by Cyberattack With Nearly 9 Million Patients' Data Stolen
Local Impact on Michigan Pharmacies
Reports from the Huron Daily Tribune indicate that local pharmacies in Michigan are grappling with disruptions attributable to the Change Healthcare cyberattack.
Scheurer Health, a healthcare provider in Michigan, disclosed on its Facebook page the inability to process prescriptions through patients' insurance due to the "nationwide outage" linked to Change Healthcare.
Change Healthcare's Vital Role in U.S. Healthcare System
Change Healthcare is one of the largest healthcare technology firms in the United States.
Renowned for handling patient payments across the U.S. healthcare landscape, the company processes a staggering 15 billion healthcare transactions annually. This means that one in every three U.S. patient records interfaces with Change Healthcare's clinical connectivity solutions.
Merger and Impact
In 2022, UnitedHealth Group finalized the merger of Optum, a U.S. healthcare services giant, with Change Healthcare in a monumental $7.8 billion transaction. This merger facilitated Optum's extensive access to patient records, positioning it as a pivotal player in the healthcare technology sphere.
Potential Attribution and Response
Amidst the unfolding cyber crisis, Optum spokesperson Andrew Krejci refrained from providing further insights beyond the information available on the incident tracker. However, late Thursday, Feb. 22, UnitedHealth attributed the cyberattack to likely government-backed hackers, although the specific nation-state remains undisclosed.
Despite the severity of the cyber breach, the spokespersons for Change Healthcare and UnitedHealth Group have yet to issue official comments, leaving many questions unanswered amidst growing concerns over the ramifications for the broader U.S. healthcare ecosystem, per TechCrunch.
Every year, it's becoming alarming that the healthcare sector gets more exposed to security risks. For instance, our early February report said that Viamedis, a French healthcare insurance provider, was hit by a data breach.
At that time, the authorities said that millions of health data were at risk of being compromised or leaked.
Read Also: Cyberattack Forces Hospitals in 5 US States to Shut Down Emergency Rooms
