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US places $10m reward to unmask Blackcat” hackers targeting UnitedHealth
The US State Department has made a $10 million reward offer for information on the “Blackcat” ransomware group that disrupted insurance payments across the US and targeted the tech division of UnitedHealth Group.
The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, which is administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, made the offering in a media note from the office of the spokesperson.
Earlier this month, the hackers claimed that UnitedHealth had paid a $22 million ransom to restore its computers; however, it is unknown if Blackcat fulfilled its half of the agreement.
The gang gave the appearance that activities had been suspended shortly after the attack by posting a phoney news statement on their website, which falsely claimed it had been taken by law enforcement.
The government claimed in a statement announcing the prize offer that “the ALPHV Blackcat ransomware-as-a-service group compromised computer networks of critical infrastructure sectors in the United States and worldwide.”
When UnitedHealth got its services back online after the hack that started in late February, the company said last week that it was starting to clear a backlog of more than $14 billion in medical claims.
Change Healthcare, the tech division of UnitedHealth is essential to the processing of insurance company payments to practitioners, and in certain situations, the disruption brought on by the cyberattack has left patients and physicians without compensation.
Particularly hard hit have been the community health centres, which provide care to over 30 million underprivileged and uninsured people.
It is not unusual for big businesses that have been attacked by ransomware groups to choose to compensate the hackers to take back control of their networks, particularly when there has been a major disruption to partners and consumers.