OAN’s James Meyers
11:20 AM – Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Over 100 healthcare facilities in Romania are officially offline after hackers launched a large ransomware attack on at least 25 healthcare facilities, according to country’s cybersecurity agency.
The Romanian National Cyber Security Directorate made the announcement on Tuesday saying the attack started with the Pitesti Pediatric Hospital and moved to other healthcare facilities at an escalated rate.
The cybersecurity agency also said close to 80 healthcare facilities have disconnected from the internet to try to avoid the hackers.
The high number of healthcare facilities represents a wide portion of the eastern European nation.
According to data conducted last year, Romania has 543 hospitals nationwide.
Additionally, studies have shown hospitals have higher death rates when experiencing cyber attacks due to downtime on equipment.
Meanwhile, ransomware attacks have continued to skyrocket across the globe, with victims paying their attackers a record $1 billion last year.
According to the Romanian agency, the hackers used a type of ransomware called Phobos, which was created by Russian-speaking hackers.
The hackers have also asked for $3.5 bitcoin in ransom, the equivalent of almost $170,000. The agency announced Romania’s top cybersecurity company, Bitdefender, is currently helping “fight the attack” against the hospitals.
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