Los Angeles hospital pays ransom to hackers who took over its computer system

A Los Angeles hospital succumbed to the demands of hackers on Wednesday and forked over $17,000 to regain control of their computer system.

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center first learned of the hack on Feb. 5 and medical workers’ ability to communicate electronically was frozen by malware that demanded a decryption key, the hospital said in a statement Wednesday.

The hack reportedly affected its medical record system as well as equipment.

Hospital president Allen Stefanek said that the system was back online as of Monday after the facility gave in to the ransom demands.

“The quickest and most efficient way to restore our system and administrative functions was to pay the ransom and obtain the decryption key. In the best interest of restoring normal operations, we did this,” he said. For the full article click here 

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