Understanding the UnitedHealth Data Breach: Lessons Learned and Cybersecurity Imperatives

In recent months, the healthcare industry has been rocked by a significant number of cybersecurity breaches, the most prolific of which was at UnitedHealth Group. This breach sheds light on the critical importance of robust cybersecurity measures in safeguarding sensitive patient data and ensuring the continuity of essential services. 

Below we delve into the details of this breach and explore its broader implications for cybersecurity in the healthcare industry as a whole.

The breach at UnitedHealth's tech unit on February 12th was orchestrated by hackers who gained remote access to the network using stolen login credentials. This breach, attributed to the cybercriminal gang AlphV, aka BlackCat, underscored the vulnerabilities inherent in relying solely on passwords for authentication, particularly the absence of multi-factor authentication (MFA). The compromised Change Healthcare Citrix portal, lacking MFA, provided an open gateway for cybercriminals to infiltrate and encrypt the systems, leading to a ransom demand to restore access.

The aftermath of the breach highlighted the significant disruption to American healthcare. Change Healthcare was locked out of the essential systems impacting medical claims processing across the country. UnitedHealth Group has been diligently working with law enforcement agencies and cybersecurity firms, including Google, Microsoft, Cisco, and Amazon, to investigate the breach and secure affected systems.

However, the ransom payment made by UnitedHealth Group underscores the complex ethical and practical considerations surrounding ransomware attacks. While paying the ransom may, or may not truly ensure the decryption of systems and the restoration of services, it also incentivizes cybercriminals to continue their nefarious activities.

In response to the breach, UnitedHealth Group has taken proactive measures to support affected healthcare providers, providing over $6.5 billion in accelerated payments and no-interest, no-fee loans to mitigate the financial impact.

This breach serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for healthcare organizations to prioritize cybersecurity and implement robust defenses against evolving cyber threats. CyberSecOp continues to provide award winning services, standing ready to assist organizations in mitigating risks, conducting comprehensive risk assessments, and implementing tailored cybersecurity strategies to safeguard sensitive data and ensure the integrity of critical systems.

As the healthcare industry grapples with the fallout of this breach, it is imperative for organizations to learn from these events and strengthen their cybersecurity posture to protect patient privacy and maintain the trust of stakeholders.

Together, we can work towards building a more resilient and secure healthcare ecosystem where patient data remains protected and essential services remain uninterrupted.

Vishing Awareness

Vishing

Spoofing a legitimate phone number, voice phishing scammers lead people to believe the call is legitimate

What is Vishing?

We’ve all heard the countless stories on phishing and how much of a threat is it in today’s information security landscape. Social engineering to solicit confidential information via email is a threat that all of us have been made aware of. Extensive efforts have been made to not only reduce the influx of phishing emails, but also to raise awareness so that users have the know-how to assess and respond to the threat when a malicious email hits their inbox.

In response, threat actors have turned to a newer form of exploitation: Vishing. Vishing is a form of criminal phone fraud that uses social engineering over the phone or SMS to gain confidential information. Here are some examples

• Fake call from “Help Desk” asking for credentials

• Unsolicited calls for credit and loans

• Calls from a fake client asking about an invoice

Vishing is becoming an increasingly favored tool attackers use, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With the shift to work-from-home environments, corporate VPNS, and elimination of in-person verification, threat actors are shifting their tactics to exploit this widespread weakness.

How do I protect my firm against Vishing?

1. Security awareness is the best line of defense against this type of attack, so be sure to incorporate vishing education into your information security awareness program. Policies and procedures should be established and communicated to ensure that employees can verify identity when the helpdesk or anyone else from the company calls and asks after proprietary topical information. It is imperative that information security managers instill a sense of suspicion for any caller asking for said information.

2. Enabling MFA for any system that has access to confidential information, network or system is non-negotiable; that second factor of authentication can halt many types of attacks. When you enable MFA you avoid the use of SMS as a means of authentication as SMS is easily manipulated and exploited.

3. Lastly, always apply least privilege so that in the event an account is compromised, there will be minimal damage.

AUTHOR: CARLOS NETO

Information Security Officer