U.S., Canada issue joint alert on 'ransomware' after hospital attacks

By Jim Finkle
March 31 (Reuters) - The United States and Canada on
Thursday issued a rare joint cyber alert, warning against a
recent surge in extortion attacks that infect computers with
viruses known as "ransomware," which encrypt data and demand
payments for it to be unlocked.
The warning follows reports from several private security
firms that they expect the crisis to worsen, because hackers are
getting more sophisticated and few businesses have adopted
proper security measures to thwart such attacks.
"Infections can be devastating to an individual or
organization, and recovery can be a difficult process that may
require the services of a reputable data recovery specialist,"
the two governments said in the alert, distributed by the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security and the Canadian Cyber Incident
Response Centre.
It comes in the wake of reports of a string of ransomware
attacks on individuals, businesses and government agencies in
the past few months, including some that interrupted services at
U.S. hospitals and police departments.
Last week the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a
private alert to U.S. businesses, seeking their help in its
investigation into the attacks. L2N1700ST
Thursday's alert said the consequences of ransomware attacks
include loss of sensitive or proprietary information, disruption
of regular operations, expenses to restore access to computer
systems and harm to a victim's reputation.
The governments discouraged victims from paying hackers to
restore access to their data.
"Paying the ransom does not guarantee the encrypted files
will be released," the alert said. "It only guarantees that the
malicious actors receive the victim's money, and in some cases,
their banking information."
MedStar, the U.S. capital region's largest healthcare
provider, shut down much of its computer network this week to
slow the spread of a virus. The Baltimore Sun reported on
Wednesday that hackers had used ransomware to encrypt data on
some computers and then demanded a ransom of $18,500.
Security blogger Brian Krebs last week reported that
Henderson, Kentucky-based Methodist Hospital declared an
internal state of emergency after falling victim to a ransomware
attack. Last month, Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los
Angeles paid a ransom of $17,000 to regain access to its systems
after a similar attack.