Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center (HPMC) revealed in a statement (PDF) today that it paid hackers $17,000 in Bitcoin to unlock its files after the attackers used malware to encrypt and hold them for ransom. The hospital noticed issues on its network on February 5 and managed to restore its systems by February 15. That means its staff couldn’t rely on electronic medicals and communication facilities for more than a week. While HPMC says that this incident didn’t affect the delivery and quality of the care patients received, the situation could certainly have spun out of control and affected their well-being.…
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