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Marketplace All-in-One

Explaining a major health care ransomware attack

Marketplace All-in-One

Marketplace

Business, News

4.51.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2024

⏱️ 8 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

There’s news this morning that UnitedHealth paid $22 million to recover systems from a ransomeware gang. The attack impacted a number of doctor’s clinics, especially in rural areas, and some pharmacies struggled to fill prescriptions as a result. Also on the program, we hear more about the state of Japan’s economy, a new satellite that detects methane gas leaks and club closures across the U.K. amid fizzling weeknight business.

Transcript

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0:00.0

We will update the big health care cyber attack for ransom.

0:05.0

I'm David Brancaccio.

0:07.0

There are signs that United Health Care has paid perhaps $22 million

0:11.0

to recover computer systems and data hijacked by a ransomware gang.

0:17.0

The cyber attack has caused widespread disruptions at pharmacies, hospitals, and doctors clinics

0:22.0

in recent weeks,

0:22.8

Marketplace's Nova Safo is here with more.

0:25.6

And David, no confirmation on this claim.

0:27.3

A lot of times companies won't say that they've paid ransom to cyber criminals,

0:30.8

but Reuters is reporting on a post made on a hacker forum saying

0:34.6

that United Health did pay $22 million through a Bitcoin transfer to an account

0:40.0

associated with the Black Cat ransomware gang. Now that's the group responsible for the

0:44.8

cyber attack that's frozen part of United Health's operations in its change

0:49.1

health care unit which helps process insurance claims for payment.

0:53.0

Now we've been tracking this attack.

0:55.0

It's been going on for a couple weeks now.

0:57.0

Remind us of some of the effects.

1:00.0

Right.

1:01.0

There have been broad.

1:02.0

The American Medical Association came out and said that it's really worried about a number of smaller doctors clinics, especially in rural areas, which haven't been able to get paid for weeks, because they can't submit insurance claims for reimbursement. A lot of these clinics don't have

1:14.4

huge cash reserves too. The AMA says it's in talks with the federal government to make emergency

1:19.6

funds available to these clinics and pharmacies have been impacted as well. United said it has

...

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