Despite several warnings from the FBI, the authorities related to 3 Alabama based hospitals have chosen to pay the hackers which induced ransomware into their digital network locking down files from access.
Spokesperson Brad Fisher said that the authorities got back the decryption key and has now restored the data for business continuity. And obviously, ransomware hackers give the key only when they receive the ransom amount.
Prima Facie concluded that the ransomware variant which infected the systems of 3 Alabama hospitals named DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Northport Medical Center, and Fayette Medical Center was RYUK.
And Russian hacking group named GRIM Spider is suspected to be behind the cyber attack.
It has to be notified over here that the FBI issued an alert across the United States for a possible ransomware attack on public and private entities related to health, finance, and education. The law enforcement agency also mentioned in its alert that paying the ransom to hackers will propel crime on a further note.
NOTE 1- According to a report published by Cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, over 621 hospitals, 500 schools, and 169 businesses in the whole of the United States were hit by the ransomware in 2019 alone.
NOTE 2– Emsisoft which is a New Zealand based company that offers free identification of ransomware tools for over 766 different file-encrypting malware strains. At the same time, the company also offers decryption tools for few of the ransomware strains on its website
