Close Menu
Technology Mag

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    TikTok videos are about to get crowdsourced fact checks on them

    July 30, 2025

    The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is stuck in a familiar orbit

    July 30, 2025

    EPA Employees Still in the Dark as Agency Dismantles Scientific Research Office

    July 30, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Subscribe
    Technology Mag
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    • Home
    • News
    • Business
    • Games
    • Gear
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Security
    • Trending
    • Press Release
    Technology Mag
    Home » UnitedHealth CEO admits it paid $22 million ransom to BlackCat
    News

    UnitedHealth CEO admits it paid $22 million ransom to BlackCat

    News RoomBy News RoomMay 1, 20243 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email

    Health insurance provider UnitedHealth paid a multimillion-dollar ransom to hackers who broke into one of its subsidiaries, disrupting healthcare providers across the country for months, CEO Andrew Witty confirmed on Wednesday. 

    In a hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance, Witty said the decision to pay the $22 million ransom was entirely his. “This was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” he said. UnitedHealth admitted last month that it had paid a ransom to the hackers who breached the Change Healthcare system — which is owned by UnitedHealth — but didn’t disclose the sum. In March, the company attributed the breach to BlackCat, the same entity responsible for the MGM casino hack in Las Vegas. That same month, Wired reported that BlackCat, which also goes by ALPHV, received a $22 million transaction on Bitcoin on March 1st.

    BlackCat previously claimed it netted more than six terabytes of data as part of the hack, which it carried out in February of this year. The ransomware gang said the data included “sensitive” medical records, according to CBS News.

    “Criminals used compromised credentials to remotely access Change Healthcare Citrix portal, an application used to enable remote access to desktops,” Witty said during his testimony, adding that the portal “did not have multifactor authentication.” 

    “This hack could’ve been stopped with cybersecurity 101,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the chair of the committee. After Witty confirmed United will require multifactor authentication companywide going forward, Wyden said it “shouldn’t have taken the worst cyberattack ever in the healthcare sector for an agreement to do this bare minimum.”

    The effects of the hack were far-reaching. After the breach was discovered, United shut down the Change Healthcare system for a week, which prevented hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies across the country from getting paid. During the hearing, Witty said the system is now “broadly back to normal.” But some senators told Witty that hospitals and other healthcare providers are still waiting on payments. Wyden (D-OR) told Witty that some providers who filed claims in February were told they’d have to wait until June to get paid.

    UnitedHealth manages more than one-third of all patient records in the US and oversees 1 in 10 doctors across the country, according to a letter the American Hospital Association sent to the Department of Health and Human Services in March. In his opening remarks, Wyden called United a “healthcare leviathan” and described the hack as a “dire warning about the consequences of too-big-to-fail mega-corporations.”

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleAsus won’t say if the ROG Ally’s SD card reader will ever be truly fixed
    Next Article Walmart is about to launch a 4K Chromecast that’s also a smart speaker

    Related Posts

    TikTok videos are about to get crowdsourced fact checks on them

    July 30, 2025

    The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is stuck in a familiar orbit

    July 30, 2025

    Opera is filing a complaint over Microsoft’s tricks that push you to use Edge

    July 29, 2025

    YouTube tells creators they can drop more F-bombs

    July 29, 2025

    Lovense was told its sex toy app leaked users’ emails and didn’t fix it

    July 29, 2025

    LG’s StanbyMe 2 is an unquestionably cool TV at a questionably high price

    July 29, 2025
    Our Picks

    The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is stuck in a familiar orbit

    July 30, 2025

    EPA Employees Still in the Dark as Agency Dismantles Scientific Research Office

    July 30, 2025

    The Nvidia RTX 5060 Can’t Quite Beat AMD

    July 30, 2025

    This Star System Contains 5 Potentially Habitable Planets

    July 30, 2025
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo
    Don't Miss
    Gear

    Top Verizon Promo Codes and Deals for August 2025

    By News RoomJuly 30, 2025

    Back in the day, Verizon proved their expansive reach with the spokesperson who asked “Can…

    Opera is filing a complaint over Microsoft’s tricks that push you to use Edge

    July 29, 2025

    YouTube tells creators they can drop more F-bombs

    July 29, 2025

    Lovense was told its sex toy app leaked users’ emails and didn’t fix it

    July 29, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of use
    • Advertise
    • Contact
    © 2025 Technology Mag. All Rights Reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.