Hackers Roil Entire Industries With Attacks on IT Supply Chain
- Ransomware breaches hitting little-known but crucial companies
- Change Healthcare is latest attack to ripple through sector
The attacks are part of a growing phenomenon in which financially motivated cybercriminals have attacked critical links in the global IT supply chain.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesAcross Paraguay, hackers knocked out online services provided by the foreign ministry and companies. In Sweden, they crippled the payroll and human resources systems of more than 100 government bodies, including the central bank and parliament, as well as hospitals, retailers and others.
In the US, intruders took down a software system that the biggest banks use to process trades, and they crippled a network that connects medical providers and pharmacies with insurance companies. Those attacks, against EquiLend and UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s Change Healthcare division, wreaked havoc on Wall Street and the American health-care system.