Computers in Israel's health system were attacked yesterday. Computers of several hospitals, including Hadassah Ein Kerem, Hadassah Mount Scopus, and Poriya Medical Center in Tiberias, were breached, Walla! reports. Shortly after the attack began, the Ministry of Heath computer department began to repel the attack in cooperation with the National Cyber Defense Authority.
The National Cyber Defense Authority said, "During the night, there were attempts to attack a number of hospitals. Several computers at several hospitals were infected; they were immediately handled, and no damage was caused. The event was stopped by information security personnel at the organizations involved, together with the National Cyber Defense Authority, and is being carefully monitored and handled. Work at the hospitals is continuing without interruption, no damage was caused, and the functioning of the hospitals was not affected."
Two days ago, a series of companies in Europe and the US were the targets of a major cyber attack, including demand for ransoms by the hackers, as happened last month, when use was made of the WannaCry ransomware. The National Cyber Defense Authority said that it was "studying and analyzing the details of the large-scale ransomware attack in Europe."
Experts at many companies identified the ransomeware used today as Petya, which prevents computers from operating by encrypting their disc drives and demanding money for the password to open them. The experts believe that the attack once again utilized the break-in tool of the US National Security Agency, which was leaked to Wikileaks.
Last month, the UK National Health Service (NHS) was damaged in a large-scale cyber attack. UK newspaper "The Guardian" reported that malware had penetrated systems of patients' data and appointments registration, and had blocked them, as well as telephone lines and email accounts relating to the NHS.
Additional organizations were paralyzed in the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, the US, Taiwan, and other countries. The attack, which initially focused on 11 European countries, later spread to 74 countries all over the world.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on June 29, 2017
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