Hospital Computers Under Ransom

On Monday CSO reports that Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center’s (HPMC) computers have been down for more than a week after falling victim to ransomware. Attackers demand $3.6 million to decrypt the system. Some patients have been transferred to other hospitals and emergency room services have been sporadically affected. The hospital is working with LAPD and the US FBI to identify the attackers.

As of Wednesday of this week the hospital has admitted to paying 40 Bitcoins or about $17,000 to the group that encrypted their servers. In a statement the HPMC says they paid the ransom to be able to serve their patients.