PhilHealth's IT System affected by Medusa Ransomware Attack
PhilHealth, the Philippine’s health insurance agency, was hit by a ransomware attack on September 22, 2023. The attack affected some of PhilHealth’s IT services, and the government is working to secure the compromised systems.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) was aware of the attack as early as 9 am. DICT Secretary Ivan Uy said that the government is working with PhilHealth to restore its systems and ensure that its services are not disrupted.
Dy stated that the initial assessment was that the system was hit by the Medusa ransomware virus. The virus is a type of malware that encrypts data and demands a ransom payment in exchange for a alleged decryption key.
Dy also added that the service of PhilHealth in the Philippine government’s eGov app is also temporarily down.
The Philippines is also joining the Counter Ransomware Initiative (CRI), a global effort to combat ransomware attacks. The CRI is a partnership between the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other countries.1
Source/s:
1White House. (2022, November 1). International Counter Ransomware Initiative 2022 Joint Statement. Website. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/01/international-counter-ransomware-initiative-2022-joint-statement/
We at Arstle Media are dedicated to transparency and high-quality content. As part of our core values, we’d like to let you know that this post has been copyread by AI tools for accuracy and quality. Rest assured that we are committed to providing you with the most accurate information possible.