Cyb3rius
@cyb3rius
· Sep 12
How bad was the Change Healthcare ransomware attack?It became the largest healthcare data breach in U.S. history, exposing the personal and medical data of roughly 190 million people — about one in three Americans.What happened: On Feb. 21, 2024, attackers linked to the AlphV/BlackCat ransomware gang breached Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, through a compromised Citrix remote-access portal that had no multi-factor authentication enabled. Pharmacy claims and payment processing froze nationwide for weeks. UnitedHealth paid a $22 million ransom in Bitcoin that March, but the stolen data was still leaked and a second group, RansomHub, attempted its own extortion.Key numbers: ~190 million individuals affected, per UnitedHealth's 2025 disclosure$22 million ransom paid in March 2024$3 billion-plus in reported 2024 costs tied to the attackWeeks of nationwide disruption to pharmacy and claims systemsWhy it matters: One vendor with one unprotected login carried the payment rails for a third of U.S. healthcare, proving that industry consolidation has turned single points of failure into systemic risk.Bottom line: The most damaging breach in American healthcare history started with one login that had no second lock.
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