Another ransomware group, RansomHub, is allegedly attempting to extort UnitedHealth Group’s Change Healthcare unit in a second round of cyberattacks, according to Becker’s Hospital Review. They claim to possess 4 terabytes of Change’s data and have demanded payment, threatening to sell the sensitive health and financial information of millions of consumers on the dark web. Change Healthcare had previously paid $22 million to the BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware outfit after a February cyberattack that severely crippled the company’s claims processing and provider-payment systems.
Behind the scenes: The “double extortion” attempt against Change Healthcare came as no surprise to security experts. According to Security Week, the huge payment that Change Healthcare sent to the cybercriminals was a good predictor that Change would most likely pay up again for subsequent threats.