Tenet Health confirms 'cybersecurity incident' that impacted hospitals

[Dave Hess]

Tenet Health confirms 'cybersecurity incident' that impacted hospitals​

Tenet Health confirms 'cybersecurity incident' that impacted West Palm Beach hospitals

Tenet Health, which operates St. Mary's Medical Center and Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, said Tuesday that the company "experienced a cybersecurity incident last week."

www.wptv.com

My niece is a nurse at one of the affected hospital. Says they were using pen and paper for 6 days. Hospital administrators are very hush-hush about what’s going on.

Just wondering how does a person get into Cyber Security as a career field ?

What training / certifications do IT folks need to have to prevent this type of hack ?

Lots of IT professionals on here, maybe they can chime in.

.

 

[brianl703]

My guess...

Some idiot clicked on a link they got in email, which encrypted a network share that was mapped on the computer where they clicked it, and they have no backups.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

The WSJ reported yesterday that some renewable energy companies in Europe had been under numerous attempted hacks from groups sympathetic to Russia. Perhaps this is just more of the same.

 

[JustinH]

I used to contract for Tenet a lifetime ago. They have very strong security and controls. I haven't talked to any of my contacts there currently, and I'd bet they are tight lipped.

Tenet manages a TON of hospitals, they are an organization that comes into optimize revenue, then sells the hospital.

 

[PandaBear]

Unlikely for large organizations like these. More likely the equipments they use are not on the latest patch or a new security problem were found, etc.

I'm starting to think for security reason, future would be terminals with only 1 function each, as dumb as possible, with a dedicated connection to dedicated servers, no more "sharing" between devices or anything like that.

My guess...

Some idiot clicked on a link they got in email, which encrypted a network share that was mapped on the computer where they clicked it, and they have no backups.

 

[brianl703]

Unlikely for large organizations like these. More likely the equipments they use are not on the latest patch or a new security problem were found, etc.

That shouldn't take 6 days to recover from. Generally, if it takes that long to recover, you're rebuilding systems you don't have a backup of.

 

[Dave Hess]

What do college student need to focus on to get into Cyber Security industry ?
Cisco Security Certs ?

I’ve seen hospital Dell computers at the nurses station look like a hockey puck, no DVD player and no USB ports.
Too many employees using tainted USBs with music to cause problems in the past.

 

[Leo99]

That shouldn't take 6 days to recover from. Generally, if it takes that long to recover, you're rebuilding systems you don't have a backup of.

I know a couple companies that got hit and hit hard by cyber attacks. Took them a lot longer than 6 days to recover. One company that we work with took months to recover and I'm still not sure they are fully back.

 

[brianl703]

I know a couple companies that got hit and hit hard by cyber attacks. Took them a lot longer than 6 days to recover. One company that we work with took months to recover and I'm still not sure they are fully back.

My record is 4 hours from the time said idiot clicked on the link till I had the entire drive restored from backup. Would've been faster, but tape libraries only work so fast.

Adding rules to the firewall to block all of Asia Pacific and Russia netblocks from the email server dramatically cut down on the spam and phishing attempts, as well as the portscans.

I strongly suggest that anyone whose business does not involve those regions of the world block them from their network.

 

[Quattro Pete]

What do college student need to focus on to get into Cyber Security industry ?
Cisco Security Certs ?

What Education Do You Need To Be A Cyber Security Specialist? - MyComputerCareer

Considering an education to be a cyber security specialist? Find out what skills and certifications you need to kick off your IT security career.

www.mycomputercareer.edu

 

[simple_gifts]

My guess...

Some idiot clicked on a link they got in email, which encrypted a network share that was mapped on the computer where they clicked it, and they have no backups.

Of course no one at a hospital is understaffed or overworked or rushing because someone's life is on the line. Problem with approaches like these are people are less likely to say 'anything' if they do something they might deem a mistake; can you use "idiot" a few more times. JMO. Could be a simple mistake by a user or a very complicated attack. I'm interested in the attack vector.

 

[brianl703]

Of course no one at a hospital is understaffed or overworked or rushing because someone's life is on the line. Problem with approaches like these are people are less likely to say 'anything' if they do something they might deem a mistake; can you use "idiot" a few more times. JMO. Could be a simple mistake by a user or a very complicated attack. I'm interested in the attack vector.

A very complicated attack isn't always needed because users can often be tricked into doing things they shouldn't.

You'll probably never find out what really happened, things like that are kept confidential.

EDIT: And why would someone who is dealing with someone's life on the line doing anything with email and clicking on a link??

 

[simple_gifts]

EDIT: And why would someone who is dealing with someone's life on the line doing anything with email and clicking on a link??

Because notification of shipment of critical life saving supplies may come via email? Use your imagination. Fedex tracking etc.

Training to avoid these scenarios must be ongoing and in the spirit of continuous improvement.

 

[Dave Hess]

Not to change the subject….

My employer sends out phishing ’test’ emails to see if you click on them. I have to admit I’ve clicked on a few of them.

 

[slug_bug]

Tenet Health confirms 'cybersecurity incident' that impacted hospitals​

Tenet Health confirms 'cybersecurity incident' that impacted West Palm Beach hospitals

Tenet Health, which operates St. Mary's Medical Center and Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, said Tuesday that the company "experienced a cybersecurity incident last week."

www.wptv.com

My niece is a nurse at one of the affected hospital. Says they were using pen and paper for 6 days. Hospital administrators are very hush-hush about what’s going on.

Just wondering how does a person get into Cyber Security as a career field ?

What training / certifications do IT folks need to have to prevent this type of hack ?

Lots of IT professionals on here, maybe they can chime in.

.

Two very useful and sought after certifications are CompTIA Security+ and CISSP. CISSP is the more difficult and desirable cert. I've personally seen a young IT help desk tech jump from 60K per year to 120K by obtaining a CISSP.

 

[Dave Hess]

Two very useful and sought after certifications are CompTIA Security+ and CISSP. CISSP is the more difficult and desirable cert. I've personally seen a young IT help desk tech jump from 60K per year to 120K by obtaining a CISSP.

Nice

 

[PimTac]

EDIT: And why would someone who is dealing with someone's life on the line doing anything with email and clicking on a link??

I worked in hospitals for many years. There are thousands of employees and all kinds of emails regarding to everything from patient care to system announcements, new policies, meetings and so forth. The hospital I worked at did not allow outside emails.

I have heard that some of these phishing emails do not require you to click on a link. Just opening the email does the trick. So It is confusing as to what to open and what not to open.

Hospital systems are interconnected as well within the system which might include many hospitals as well as clinics, nursing homes and so forth. Connections between departments are essential. A department like pharmacy for example will need access to the lab system for a patient’s lab results.

It is a very complicated system

 

[brianl703]

Not to change the subject….

My employer sends out phishing ’test’ emails to see if you click on them. I have to admit I’ve clicked on a few of them.

So does mine. They're pretty obvious.

 

[brianl703]

I have heard that some of these phishing emails do not require you to click on a link. Just opening the email does the trick.

That would be a problem with the email client being used, ultimately the responsibility of the IT department to patch it or replace it with something that doesn't do that.

 

[simple_gifts]

Not to change the subject….

My employer sends out phishing ’test’ emails to see if you click on them. I have to admit I’ve clicked on a few of them.

As does mine; Not always obvious. I've failed once being a new employee, reported the other 10 or so tests successfully.