With the news of the newest international ransomware campaign that is currently affecting some organizations within the Health Care sector, it is important to not only educate staff on necessary precautions, but also be aware of steps to take in the instance you are infected by a ransomware attack.
The following information was distributed today by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). Please take a moment to review the information and prepare your organization in the event that an attack occurs.
Be sure to review our preparedness recommendations and contact us with any questions.
If your organization is the victim of a ransomware attack, HHS recommends the following steps:
Multiple Petya Ransomware Infections Reported
06/27/2017 12:56 PM EDT
Original release date: June 27, 2017 US-CERT has received multiple reports of Petya ransomware infections occurring in networks in many countries around the world. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that infects a computer and restricts users’ access to the infected machine until a ransom is paid to unlock it. Individuals and organizations are discouraged from paying the ransom, as this does not guarantee that access will be restored. Using unpatched and unsupported software may increase the risk of proliferation of cybersecurity threats, such as ransomware.
Petya ransomware encrypts the master boot records of infected Windows computers, making affected machines unusable. Open-source reports indicate that the ransomware exploits vulnerabilities in Server Message Block (SMB). US-CERT encourages users and administrators to review the US-CERT article on the Microsoft SMBv1 Vulnerability and the Microsoft Security Bulletin MS17-010. For general advice on how to best protect against ransomware infections, review US-CERT Alert TA16-091A. Please report any ransomware incidents to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
National Health Information-Sharing and Analysis Center has shared the following TLP-White Message and will continue to share information at nhisac.org.
HITRUST has shared the following Threat Bulletin for distribution.