Security News > 2021 > October > Suspected Chinese hackers behind attacks on ten Israeli hospitals

Suspected Chinese hackers behind attacks on ten Israeli hospitals
2021-10-18 14:55

A joint announcement from the Ministry of Health and the National Cyber Directorate in Israel describes a spike in ransomware attacks over the weekend that targeted the systems of nine health institutes in the country.

In the joint announcement, the Israeli government states that the attempts resulted in no damage to the hospitals and the medical organizations, thanks to national-level coordination and the quick and decisive response of the local IT teams.

According to local media reports, the attack is attributed to a Chinese group of actors using the 'DeepBlueMagic' ransomware strain, which first appeared in the wild in August this year.

DeepBlueMagin is known to disable security solutions that usually detect and block file encryption attempts, allowing for successful attacks.

Israel's National Cyber Directorate has released indicators of compromise in the form of file hashes that have been seen in related attacks.

Reuven Eliyahu, the cybersecurity chief in the Health Ministry, has confirmed that the mid-week attack was carried out by Chinese hackers in a statement today and described the actors' motives as "Purely financial."


News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/suspected-chinese-hackers-behind-attacks-on-ten-israeli-hospitals/