FBI, DHS Warn Of Possible Major Ransomware Attacks On Healthcare Systems

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Departments of Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a joint alert Wednesday warning of an “imminent” increase in ransomware and other cyberattacks against hospitals and healthcare providers.

“Malicious cyber actors are targeting the [Healthcare and Public Health] Sector with TrickBot malware, often leading to ransomware attacks, data theft, and the disruption of healthcare services,” the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in its advisory.

The infamous botnet typically spreads via malicious spam email to unsuspecting recipients and can steal financial and personal data and drop other software, such as ransomware, onto infected systems.

It’s worth noting that cybercriminals have already used TrickBot against a major healthcare provider, Universal Health Services, whose systems were crippled by Ryuk ransomware late last month.

TrickBot has also seen a severe disruption to its infrastructure in recent weeks, what with Microsoft orchestrating a coordinated takedown to make its command-and-control (C2) servers inaccessible.

“The challenge here is because of the attempted takedowns, the…