News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

Universal Health Services at risk!

https://www.cyberscoop.com/uhs-cybersecu...-incident/

Computer networks at Universal Health Services, which describes itself as one of the largest health care providers in the U.S., were down Monday due to what the company described as “an IT security issue.”

Several media suggested UHS’s IT network had been hit by ransomware and that some nurses had reverted to pen and paper. UHS controls 400 hospitals in the US. They've denied their patients' data had been compromised... as far as they know.  

German patient dies because of ransomware!?

Article in English
https://www.cyberscoop.com/germany-ranso...-hospital/
in German
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/gesundheit/k...-99-598587

The investigation centers around a ransomware infection that hobbled the IT systems of the University of Duesseldorf’s main hospital earlier this month. The disruption forced a critically ill patient to be redirected to a hospital 20 miles away. The patient later died, according to German media reports.

The poor patient desperately needed a doctor but the ransomware attack forced them to tell the ambulance to go anywhere else.
You know 20 miles or 32 kilometers can make a huge difference under such circumstances.

German security officials suggested that the attackers exploited a flaw in popular virtual private networking software made by Citrix. Various hackers have exploited that vulnerability before and after a patch for it was released in January.

You'd usually expect people to apply patches as soon as possible but what can you do when it doesn't mean anything to any affected institution?

Curiously hackers forgot about their demands and provided the decryption key to finally let the University regain access to their data. Nope, that didn't help the patient that passed away later on at all.

Cyber Truce Offer From Russia With Love!?

https://www.cyberscoop.com/cyber-truce-putin-russia-us/

Russian President aka tyrant Vladimir Putin in a statement Friday that called for the U.S. and Russia to create “a comprehensive program of practical measures to reboot our relations in the field of security in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).” But the term fits. The former KGB agent’s proposal was otherwise broad and vague. He mentioned nothing about Russia’s well-documented misdeeds in cyberspace, and he made no accusations about what the U.S. might be doing in response.
The White House dismissed Putin’s proposal in a statement to the New York Times, and Russia-watchers expressed the usual caution.

Yeah, emphasis is mine for sure.
Anyway, who would ever trust Russians? They've tried to leave the treaty of non proliferation of nuclear weapons in the past. Plus Putin doesn't look like he's ever leaving the government for good. That would be a real deal or miracle indeed. Besides he supports the Belarusian president Lukashenko.