Feb. 21: 90% of U.S. pharmacies hit as a pharma billing middleman slammed by ransomware

The attack was launched by ALPHV, a gang that was hit in December by the FBI and other government agencies in Europe and around the world. They thought they had clobbered them good, seizing servers, shutting down chat rooms, etc. Arrests were made. But they popped up again later and clearly are still effective. They also told their affiliates to hit as much American infrastructure as they wanted in retaliation for the FBI take-down.

This particular hit, two weeks ago, nailed Change Health, part of United HealthCare. They route pharmacy billing to various insurance carriers when you pick up meds. Take out Change, and it's hard to pay for your meds! Some pharmacies can switch to alternatives, others find that a lot harder to do. Some pharmacies offered customers the cash price for meds, others told people they'd have to pay the full price and seek reimbursement from their insurance on their own. And Change Health also handles coupon processing, that also was a no-go.

A great big mess that was ultimately fixed, but a good demonstration of how sensitive our infrastructure is to cyberattack.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-prescription-drug-market-in-disarray-as-ransomware-gang-attacks/ar-BB1jaAe9