Agencies warn of state-sponsored cyberattacks from Russia, China

U.S. and international agencies are warning of potential cyberattacks on health care and other critical infrastructure from state-sponsored cyber actors in Russia and China. An advisory released yesterday warns of incidents by Russian hackers using internet-facing desktop-sharing systems to access operational technology and industrial control systems for malicious activity. A Dec. 4 report warns of Chinese state-sponsored cyber actors using BRICKSTORM malware to attack VMware vSphere and Windows cloud platforms.

“These nation-state level threats may be difficult for civilian network defenders to counter,” said John Riggi, AHA national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. “However, robust cyber threat information sharing between the private sector and the federal government, implementation of recommended practices, and the commendable and aggressive enforcement operations by the FBI and other agencies will help mitigate the threat. Organizations should also update, integrate and routinely test emergency preparedness, cyber incident response and clinical continuity plans should there be an extended technology outage affecting hospitals directly or indirectly through a cyberattack against mission-critical third parties.”

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