Security News > 2020 > September > Doppelpaymer ransomware crew fingered over attack on German hospital that allegedly caused death of a patient

The Doppelpaymer ransomware gang were behind the cyber-attack on a German hospital that led to one patient's death, according to local sources.

The Aachener Zeitung newspaper carried a report from the German Press Association that Doppelpaymer's eponymous ransomware had been introduced to the University Hospital Düsseldorf's network through a vulnerable Citrix product.

That ransomware infection, activated last week, is said by local prosecutors to have led to the death of one patient who the hospital was unable to treat on arrival.

They were said to have provided the decryption key for the ransomware upon learning that they had hit a hospital - too late to save the unfortunate patient.

He added: "A few ransomware groups claim to avoid - or, at least, attempt to avoid - hitting hospitals and say they will provide a decryptor at no cost should their aim ever be off. Unfortunately even with that decryptor, recovering systems is not a speedy process and a hospital may not be able to fully return to normal operations for quite some time - and that's the time during which people could die."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/09/23/doppelpaymer_german_hospital_malware/