The chief executive of a Los Angeles hospital says it paid a ransom in bitcoins equivalent to about $17,000 to hackers who infiltrated and disabled its computer network.
Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center CEO Allen Stefanek said in a statement Wednesday that paying the ransom of 40 bitcoins was "the quickest and most efficient way to restore our systems and administrative functions." He says the hospital did it in the interest of restoring normal operations.
Stefanek says the hospital first noticed the malware in its computer system on Feb. 5, and normal operations were restored on Monday, 10 days later.
He said patient care was not affected, and there's no evidence patient data was compromised.
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Anyone who puts faith in internet based "bitcoins" is in outer space as far as monetary security goes.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens the day the internet switch is turned off?
I hold $100 bills. They will still be there when the internet turns off, and you will have nothing.