The FBI, along with the National Security Agency, Cyber National Mission Force and United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre, today released a joint agency advisory on cyber operations by the Russian Federation’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), also known as APT29, Midnight Blizzard, Cozy Bear, and the Dukes, targeting U.S. and global entities. The agencies recommend prioritizing rapid patch deployment and keeping software up to date to protect against cyberattacks.

“This alert highlights the SVR’s aggressive targeting of U.S. critical infrastructure for espionage and possible future offensive cyber operations,’ said John Riggi, AHA national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. “Although health care is not cited as being intentionally targeted by this SVR campaign, it is noted that any entity could become a target of opportunity if it has internet-facing vulnerabilities. The SVR takes advantage of opportunistic tactics to host malicious infrastructure, conduct follow-on operations from compromised accounts, or attempt to pivot to other networks on unprotected victim infrastructure. To mitigate this threat and other types of cyberattacks, such as ransomware attacks, it is imperative that health care entities prioritize patching internet-facing vulnerabilities, employ multi-factor authentication and follow the voluntary cybersecurity performance goals.”

For more information on this issue or other cyber and risk matters contact Riggi at jriggi@aha.org. For the latest cyber threat information and resources visit www.aha.org/cybersecurity.

Related News Articles

Headline
The AHA is advising hospitals and health systems to be alert for potential scam calls where actors are impersonating Drug Enforcement Agency agents. An AHA…
Headline
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Food and Drug Administration Jan. 30 released notices warning of vulnerabilities found in the Contec…
Headline
The AHA yesterday released an advisory alerting members that the association and the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center have identified attempted…
Headline
The ransomware attack last year against UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Change Healthcare exposed data of more than 190 million people — up from previous reports…
Headline
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and FBI Jan. 22 released an advisory explaining how cyberthreat actors “chained” vulnerabilities —…
Headline
A guide published Jan. 13 by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, National Security Agency, FBI, Environmental Protection Agency,…