Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center targeted by ransomware, shuts down computers
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Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak's was hit by a ransomware cyberattack during the night. This attack led to the temporary shutdown of the hospital's administrative computer systems. Thankfully, patients and medical equipment remained unaffected, allowing the hospital to continue providing essential care without interruption.
Despite the operational resilience, the Health Ministry decided to halt patient acceptance at the outpatient clinics and imaging centers within the hospital. The public has been advised to refrain from visiting the emergency room until further notice.
Both the Health Ministry and the Israel National Cyber Directorate were notified and mobilized teams to address the situation. However, the identity of the perpetrator behind this cyberattack is yet to be determined.
No details are available about the method of injecting ransomware nor the identity of the perpetrators.
This incident is similar to a previous attack on the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera during October 2021, which was orchestrated by hackers associated with the Iranian Black Shadow group.
Update - as of 16th August Hackers are issuing threats to unveil stolen medical records involving prominent figures such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Haredi leaders. The hackers demand a substantial ransom in the range of tens of millions of shekels to prevent the disclosure of sensitive medical data, including confidential psychiatric records, of notable personalities.
On 9th September The Ragnar Locker ransomware group has claimed responsibility for an attack on Israel's Mayanei Hayeshua hospital. According to the cybercriminals, they managed to steal 1 TB of data from the hospital and are now threatening to release it.
The group's message, posted on their leak site, underscores that they refrained from encrypting the data to prevent disruptions to the hospital's medical equipment. However, the ransomware gang identified significant vulnerabilities in the hospital's network that allowed them to download hundreds of gigabytes of data.
The stolen data comprises personal information, internal emails, financial records, medical records, and other sensitive information.
Check Point's research indicated that the education and research domain, followed by government and security organizations, and then health institutions, consistently stand out as the most targeted sectors globally, including within Israel. Additionally, the report revealed a 30 percent increase in ransomware attacks on Israeli organizations or firms on a weekly basis compared to the previous year, with approximately one in every 60 Israeli entities experiencing such attacks.
