Over the years, we’ve covered some disturbing cyber crimes and hack attacks, from international government hacking to sextortion hacking. But we could see the most disturbing and demonic cyber attack yet play out before our eyes.
Hackers took over computer systems at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles. They’re demanding 3.6 million dollars, or 9,000 Bitcoin. This is what’s called ransomware. The system has been down for a week. Doctors and nurses now must use manual documentation, faxes and telephones, basically knocking them back to the early 1980s.?Allen Stefanek, the hospital’s CEO, said he noticed IT issues last week. And it escalated to this. Many patients were transferred to major nearby hospitals. This had to be done because this hospital’s X-rays and CT scans got shut down because of the cyber attack. Documentation, lab work and pharmacy cases were severely affected. For some patients, the damage has already been done. A patient named Jackie Mendez and her mother had to drive an hour to get medical tests. Patient Belmont West couldn’t get his grandmother’s medical test. West expressed frustration because of the system’s delay. ?A $3.6 million ransom is high for any ransomware demand. This is what makes this a high profile case and gave the case national news.
As bad as this is, this hospital hostage crisis could have turned out a lot worse. Patients could have died due to lack of quality medical supplies. Patients may not get the quality medical care they deserve. But the hackers don’t care two cents about the patients or their health. That’s what makes it so disturbing. The fact they would hit up an institution where the sick and dying are being cared for shows their lack of empathy and their intense contempt for humanity. This is what’s called sociopaths. And they hide behind computers to do their wicked deeds. Will will it take to catch these culprits?