Change Healthcare, part of Optum and a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, experienced a significant cyber-attack that led to disruptions in prescription issuance. The attack began to surface on February 21, when certain applications became unavailable due to what was later identified as a network interruption caused by a cybersecurity issue. The company took measures to mitigate the impact by disconnecting its systems upon recognizing an external threat. The disruptions have affected the healthcare transactions of approximately one-third of US patients, given the company's substantial role in handling 15 billion transactions annually. This situation underscores the vulnerability of healthcare providers to cyber threats and the potential for such attacks to significantly delay medical treatments and prescriptions, affecting both the company's operations and patient care.
Source: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/change-healthcare-cyber/
"id": "cha412050824",
"linkid": "change-healthcare",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "02/2023",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "7",
"explanation": "Attack that could injure or kill people"