Becker's Hospital Review

66 CIO / HEALTH IT DOJ indicts hackers suspected of creating WannaCry ransomware: 5 things to know By Jackie Drees T he U.S. Department of Justice indicted the hackers allegedly behind the cre- ation of WannaCry, a ransomware that hit organizations across the globe in May 2017 including the U.K.'s national healthcare sys- tem, according to a Feb. 17 DOJ news release. Five things to know: 1. In May 2017, WannaCry was part of a targeted worldwide attack on computers running Microso Windows. An estimat- ed 300,000 organizations were affected by the ransomware, including at least 16 of the U.K. National Health Service's facilities and several of Bayer's medical devices used in U.S. hospitals. 2. e ransomware variant works by exploit- ing a vulnerability discovered and developed by the U.S. National Security Agency; Micro- so created a patch for the vulnerability, but many organizations, including hospitals, had not appropriately updated their systems by the time of the attack. 3. ree North Korean computer program- mers were allegedly behind the WannaCry attacks as members of the country's Recon- naissance General Bureau, a military in- telligence agency that engages in criminal hacking, according to the federal indictment unsealed Feb. 17. 4. In addition to WannaCry, the three hackers, Jon Chang Hyok, Kim Il and Park Jin Hyok, allegedly orchestrated a 2014 cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, numerous global banking hacks between 2015 and 2019, ATM schemes and multiple spear-phishing campaigns on government employees. 5. e three hackers are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, which entails a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, according to the DOJ. "is case is a particularly striking exam- ple of the growing alliance between officials within some national governments and high- ly sophisticated cyber-criminals," said U.S. Secret Service Assistant Director Michael D'Ambrosio. "e individuals indicted today committed a truly unprecedented range of financial and cyber-crimes. … With victims strewn across the globe, this case shows yet again that the challenge of cybercrime is, and will continue to be, a struggle that can only be won through partnerships, perse- verance and a relentless focus on holding criminals accountable." n How Amazon algorithms are spreading vaccine misinformation By Jackie Drees A mazon's search algorithm pushes books that promote false claims about vaccines to the top of its generated results pages, according to Seat- tle-based University of Washington researchers. Books that address and debunk health misinforma- tion appear lower in Amazon's search results, which means they are less likely to be seen by consumers, the researchers said in a Feb. 2 news release. For the analysis, the researchers tested a list of 48 search terms on vaccine-related topics, such as "immunization" and "MMR vaccine and autism" over a 22-day time peri- od. They found that content promoting misinformation consistently outperformed products that debunk false claims about vaccines. When results were sorted by cer- tain filters, including "average customer reviews," misin- formative products performed especially well. The researchers recommended approaches for Am- azon to take to combat the misinformation shared on its platform. These include introducing bias indica- tors and displaying informative links alongside the product listings. n Social media posts of COVID-19 vaccine cards lead to scams, identity theft By Jackie Drees T he Better Business Bureau is advising consumers not to post photos of their COVID-19 vaccine cards on social media after an uptick in scams and concerns about potential identity theft. In a Jan. 29 blog post, the BBB urged consumers to prac- tice safe social media practices after many people have started posting selfies online of themselves receiving the shot or holding up their vaccination cards. The COVID-19 vaccine cards show the recipient's full name, birthdate and where they got their shot, all of which are valuable information that hackers and scammers can use. The BBB also warned about ongoing scams in Britain, where scammers were caught selling fake vaccination cards on eBay and TikTok, according to the blog post. The BBB said it is likely similar scams will make their way to the U.S. and Canada. Rather than post selfies with their vaccination cards, the BBB instead recommends sharing pictures of a vaccine sticker or updating profile photos with a frame to convey you have received the vaccine. n

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