Cybersecurity
US Cyber Agency Questioned Over Response to Massive Health Hack
- Parent UnitedHealth paid ransom to alleviate widespread issues
- Senators press DHS unit on intelligence sharing, attack costs
Elizabeth Warren
Photographer: Al Drago/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A trio of US senators asked the federal government’s lead cybersecurity agency to explain its response to a February ransomware attack on an insurance company that paralyzed much of the country’s health-care system.
The group, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, on Monday asked the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to share details of its role in addressing the breach of Change Healthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc., which snarled billions of dollars of payments and saw hackers make off with patient medical data. The letter also requested a broader picture of the risk posed by ransomware and the agency’s efforts to combat it.