Cyber Siege: Massachusetts Second-Largest Health Insurer Becomes Victim of Cybersecurity Attack!
Cybersecurity problems affecting consumers of major health insurers in Massachusetts, according to regulators. The systems that are utilized to service customers, accounts, brokers, and providers are reportedly being impacted by a cybersecurity problem involving ransomware.
The corporate company of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, Point32Health, has stated that it has proactively taken certain systems offline to mitigate the threat out of an “abundance of caution” after “detecting an unauthorized party.”
Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care’s parent firm, Point32Health, announced in a website memo that it had discovered a ransomware outbreak on Monday that had compromised the systems used to serve members, accounts, brokers, and providers.
A Harvard Pilgrim Health Care representative said the outages affected commercial plan members and New Hampshire Medicare members but not Tufts Health Plan participants. Two of Massachusetts’s largest health insurance companies have warned their members about this event.
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Point32Health said in a statement:
“We have notified law enforcement and regulators, and are working with third-party cybersecurity experts to conduct a thorough investigation into this incident and remediate the situation. Our top priority is to ensure our members continue to have access to care.”
On Tuesday, the insurer’s website was down for a time. Some members who tried calling their insurer said they also experienced technical difficulties.
Although Powers did not provide specifics, ransomware attacks often involve the encrypting of a company’s data, the suspension of activities, and the subsequent demand for payment in exchange for the decryption key.
Paying the ransom is an option for businesses, but law enforcement agencies normally advise against it because it does not ensure that all stolen data will be returned or that data that has already been stolen will be safe.
Customers in immediate need of assistance have been instructed to call the member services number printed on their ID card. This number will give customers specific instructions regarding their immediate requirements.
According to Boston Globe, in 2021, the Iranian government funded a group of hackers who planned to launch a cyberattack on Boston Children’s Hospital. And in 2022, because of the conflict in Ukraine, hospitals were placed on high alert(2022) for cyber threats from Russia.
According to Powers, the threats to critical infrastructure aren’t the only reason healthcare systems are investing in cybersecurity; regulatory bodies have also reinforced what corporations must do to defend themselves.
Customers will be informed if there is a breach of any sensitive information due to the cybersecurity issue. This is a narrative that is still unfolding. Check back Journal World Wide for any new information as it becomes available.
