Blackcat ransomware hacker group penetrated computer networks of vital sectors in the United States and around the world (social networking sites)
The US State Department on Wednesday offered a reward of up to $10 million for information about the ransomware group known as “Blackcat,” which penetrated the technology unit of UnitedHealth Group and disrupted insurance payments across the country, according to what Reuters reported.
“The BlackCat ransomware hacker group (also known as ALV) infiltrated the computer networks of critical infrastructure sectors in the United States and around the world,” the department said in the reward statement.
UnitedHealth said last week that it had begun meeting backlogged medical claims of more than $14 billion, after it restored its services to work following the cyber attack that caused widespread disruption that began in late February.
UnitedHealthcare's technology unit plays an essential role in processing payments from insurance companies to medical companies, and the outage caused by the cyber attack in some cases led to patients and doctors paying for medical services.
The attack had a severe impact on community health centers serving more than 30 million poor and uninsured patients.
The hackers said earlier this month that the company had paid a $22 million ransom in an attempt to restore its systems, without announcing whether they had restored the company's services after receiving the money.
Shortly after the hack, the group placed a fake statement on its website claiming that the authorities had been able to get their hands on its activities, in an attempt to give the impression that its operations had been halted.
Source: Reuters