Microsoft has issued a warning that many hospitals in the United States are at risk of Bitcoin ransomware attacks amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The giant software company said that "dozens" of hospitals use vulnerable gateways and that this makes them easy targets for REvil ransomware.
On Wednesday, Microsoft issued warnings to hospitals on their list that appear to be particularly at risk. The team wrote on the company's blog about the threats to health organizations that were particularly vulnerable during the COVID-19 crisis. The article says the company has identified several dozen such hospitals and is giving advice on how to behave to avoid an attack.
According to the company, this is “a first targeted notification” that informs these institutions about their vulnerability and the bad actors that are currently sneaking around the net.
Microsoft warns of increasing cyber threats
We saw an increase in cyber threats in the form of social engineering during the COVID-19 crisis. Many unfortunate victims have downloaded apps that claim to provide information about the virus and instead stole their personal information.