Becker's Hospital Review

64 CIO / HEALTH IT FBI warns of Mamba ransomware campaign: 10 tips to protect your hospital By Hannah Mitchell C ybercriminals have exploited a weakness in en- cryption soware and have used it to deploy Mamba ransomware into computers, according to a March 23 news release from the FBI. Mamba ransomware is able to weaponize the full disk encryption soware DiskCryptor. e ransomware campaign takes over the network, restricting access to the entire drive and operating system and displaying a ransom note requesting money in exchange for the decryption key. e FBI discourages paying ransoms, as it does not guarantee a victim will get their data back and it encourages cybercriminals. Ten guidelines to protect your organization against Mamba Ransomware: 1. Regularly back up data and have password protections for backup copies offline. Ensure critical data is not able to be modified or deleted from the network it is on. 2. Implement network segmentation by splitting the net- work into subnetworks. 3. Require administrator credentials to install soware. 4. If DiskCryptor is not used by the organization, add the key artifact files used by DiskCryptor to the organiza- tion's blacklist. Installing DiskCryptor should be avoided. 5. Install patch updates as soon as they are released. 6. Implement a recovery plan to maintain critical data offline or on a different network. 7. Audit user accounts with administrative privileges and allow access controls with the least privilege necessary. 8. Add an email banner to messages coming from outside your organizations. 9. Provide ample training to educate staff members about cyberthreats. 10. Regularly change passwords and implement the shortest acceptable time frame for password changes. n Ascension's technology business to lay off 651 employees By Jackie Drees A scension Technologies, the IT subsidiary of St. Lou- is-based Ascension, plans to lay off about 651 remote workers this year, according to an April 30 St. Louis Post-Dispatch report. Ascension Technologies said it will begin working with a third party to provide tech support for EHR and revenue cycle management responsibilities that employees used to do, according to an April 27 company notice filed with the state. None of the employees affected by the layoffs are based in Missouri, but all the positions report to an office in St. Louis. Ascension Technologies plans to facilitate the layoffs between Aug. 8 and Dec. 10. Ascension Technologies employees affected by the layoffs can apply for other positions within the company or with the vendor. Ascension said it will also provide severance and outplacement services to employees who are unable to get another job with the company. n Cape Cod Healthcare upgrades system to accept $400K bitcoin donation By Jackie Drees H yannis, Mass.-based Cape Cod Healthcare received two anonymous donations of bitcoin this year worth a total of $400,000, according to an April 10 Cape Cod Times report. The health system had no way of accepting the donations when the donor first asked if they could send bitcoin, a digital currency managed by blockchain. To accept the donation, Cape Cod had to get approval from its President and CEO Michael Lauf as well as its finance and legal departments, according to the report. Cape Cod opened an account with a cryptocurrency broker to accept the bitcoins and immediately converted the bitcoins into U.S. dollars, which were deposited into a traditional bank account. "I think what's going to occur — without having a crystal ball — is that more and more charities are going to recognize that this is a real opportunity in terms of building philanthropic support," said Chris Lawson, senior vice president and chief development offi- cer at Cape Cod Healthcare, according to the report. n

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