The threat by Clop, a ransomware group that has been active since February 2019, shows how vulnerable personal health information is to cyberattacks. More than 289 hospitals may have been impacted by ransomware attacks in 2022, according to the HHS.
The HHS sector alert notes that a customer portal was particularly vulnerable. Cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs first alerted the public of the Clop zero-day threat on Feb. 2. The software vendor Fortra released a patch for the GoAnywhere software on Feb. 7.
