The US State Department offers a maximum reward of 10 million USD for information about Blackcat, the ransomware gang that attacked UnitedHealth, disrupting insurance payment operations across the country.
In a statement, the US State Department said the Blackcat hacker group had penetrated computer networks of important infrastructure sectors in the US and globally. The department is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information that can help identify or locate actors associated with Blackcat.
UnitedHealth is a large American healthcare services management company. (Photo: Reuters)
Last week, UnitedHealth said it was starting to clear a backlog of more than $14 billion in medical claims as it restored service after a cyberattack in late February. UnitedHealth’s technology arm – Change Healthcare – closed important role in processing payments from insurance companies. According to information on the website, Change Healthcare processes more than 15 billion payment transactions annually and 1 in 3 patient records passes through its system.
In early March, the hacker group said UnitedHealth paid $22 million in ransom to restore the system. In addition, the group also advanced more than 3 billion USD to suppliers affected in the attack.
UnitedHealth disconnected the affected systems immediately upon discovering the threat, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The incident left many health care providers temporarily unable to fill prescriptions or be reimbursed by insurers for their services.
Many healthcare providers rely on reimbursement cash flow to operate, so the consequences are huge. A survey published by the American Hospital Association in early March found that 94% of hospitals experienced financial disruption due to the attack.
Therefore, UnitedHealth offers a temporary funding assistance program to help providers in need of assistance. The company said the $3.3 billion advance will not need to be repaid until cash flow returns to normal. Federal agencies also introduced additional options to ensure that states and other stakeholders can make interim payments to providers.
Late last month, the company confirmed that the Blackcat ransomware group was behind the attack. Blackcat, also known as Noberus and ALPHV, steals sensitive data from organizations and threatens to release it unless a ransom is paid, according to the US Department of Justice.
UnitedHealth is still determining the content of the stolen data. The company said a “leading vendor” is analyzing the affected data. The company also worked closely with law enforcement and third parties such as Palo Alto Networks and Google’s Mandiant to evaluate the attack.
US President Biden’s administration opened an investigation into UnitedHealth earlier this month due to the unprecedented level of cyberattack. Given UnitedHealth’s dominance over the nation’s healthcare system and insurance industry, the prolonged disruption had serious and far-reaching consequences. The consequences for community health centers – which serve more than 30 million poor and uninsured people – are enormous.
(Theo CNBC, Reuters)
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