Federal government issues warning about cyber threat against healthcare sector

Several federal agencies on Wednesday issued an advisory warning about cyber threats facing the healthcare industry.

The statement from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) explains that the three entities "have credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers."

"CISA, FBI, and HHS assess malicious cyber actors are targeting the HPH Sector with Trickbot malware, often leading to ransomware attacks, data theft, and the disruption of healthcare services," the statement says.

According to the Associated Press, Charles Carmakal, the chief technical officer of the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, called it "the most significant cyber security threat we’ve ever seen in the United States,” and Alex Holden, the CEO of Hold Security, "agreed that the unfolding offensive is unprecedented in magnitude for the U.S."

These statements come as the U.S. continues grappling with the ongoing coronavirus public health crisis.

According to Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center there have been more than 8.8 million COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and more than 227,000 deaths.