{"id":23407,"date":"2019-12-30T05:20:03","date_gmt":"2019-12-30T13:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=23407"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:33:54","slug":"caregivers-cut-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/caregivers-cut-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Caregivers Cut Off"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As technology advances, crime keeps pace. Modern lawbreakers can now hold lives hostage from afar.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s all because of type of malicious software called ransomware. These programs are designed to lock down computers and data until a monetary demand is paid. When th<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1401 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2012\/04\/Data-Breach-feat.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"185\" \/>ese viruses first cropped up, they generally targeted users indiscriminately by casting a wide net of spam emails and infected links, waiting for an unsuspecting web surfer to bite. Your computer would freeze, or your data would disappear under encryption, and you\u2019d be treated to a pop-up asking you to pay up.<\/p>\n<p>But cyber criminals have gotten more sophisticated with their methodology just as the technology itself has evolved. These hackers now <a href=\"https:\/\/healthitsecurity.com\/news\/ransomware-attacks-double-in-2019-brute-force-attempts-increase\">increasingly target health care organizations<\/a> for their vast wealth of confidential medical records, which can be sold on the dark web for up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beckershospitalreview.com\/cybersecurity\/patient-medical-records-sell-for-1k-on-dark-web.html\">$1,000<\/a> each.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, the attackers can deny access to the health care organization\u2019s systems, including their electronic health records and medical administration solutions. This can have huge consequences for caregiving. Since most health organizations now rely on tablet-based charts, staff are left without medical histories and care plans to ensure proper treatment, putting their patients\u2019 lives at risk.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Long-term care under attack<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hospitals aren\u2019t the only care facilities affected by ransomware. Criminals have begun targeting businesses who handle the IT service needs for smaller organizations in health care \u2013 including senior living providers. This way, hackers can infiltrate hundreds of client businesses from a single breach.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s what recently happened to Virtual Care Provider Inc, based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On November 17, a criminal group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jsonline.com\/story\/news\/local\/2019\/11\/23\/milwaukee-firm-falls-victim-hackers-100-plus-nursing-homes-affected\/4285213002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">encrypted the data<\/a> of their entire customer base: 110 skilled nursing and acute care providers in 45 states.<\/p>\n<p>Resident records were locked, internet access blocked and medication orders stopped. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some facilities where the nurses can\u2019t get the drugs updated and the order put in so the drugs can arrive on time,\u201d VCPI CEO Karen Christianson told cybersecurity journalist <a href=\"https:\/\/krebsonsecurity.com\/2019\/11\/110-nursing-homes-cut-off-from-health-records-in-ransomware-attack\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brian Krebs<\/a>. VPCI\u2019s couldn\u2019t even pay their own employees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have employees asking when we\u2019re going to make payroll,\u201d said Christianson. \u201cBut right now all we\u2019re dealing with is getting electronic medical records back up and life-threatening situations handled first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The asking price for the decryption key? A tidy $14 million in bitcoin. VCPI declined to pay.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The familiar but effective modus operandi <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Security experts say the most likely pathway for the hackers to gain access was through a phishing email. The larger the organization and IT department, the less likely it is for there to be software vulnerabilities available to exploit, since issues like these are routinely addressed and patched by the security team. So for cyber criminals looking to score big, the only option is to dupe inattentive employees.<\/p>\n<p>Phishing emails are spam emails made to look like a trusted source to fool people into opening a booby-trapped attachment. This file then initiates a malware download. The emails themselves can be quite convincing. Many mimic invoices or shipment-related notices, and sometimes they\u2019re personalized to appear as though they come from an actual leader in the company.<\/p>\n<p>Once the hackers are in the corporate system, it can be months and months until they launch a takeover. In the case of VCPI, officials believe the company may have been breached as far back as September 2018. The attackers then slowly spread over every part of the network and eventually gained administrator access. After that, \u201cit\u2019s game over,\u201d said Krebs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to protect your own organization<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Our partners over at LeadingAge\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leadingage.org\/center-aging-services-technologies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Center for Aging Services Technologies<\/a> have compiled tons of information for senior living managers who wish to mitigate their security risk. The resources can also guide you on what to do if your organization ever suffers an attack.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/leadingage.org\/cybersecurity-resources\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">View CAST\u2019s cybersecurity resources<\/a><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve recently updated our own Senior Living Data Security white paper with new data on cyber threats affecting the care provider landscape. To top it off, we discuss the most common vulnerabilities and offer recommendations for how to address them.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.yardi.com\/documents\/senior-living-data-security-white-paper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Get your copy of the Senior Living Data Security white paper<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As technology advances, crime keeps pace. Modern lawbreakers can now hold lives hostage from afar. It\u2019s all because of type of malicious software called ransomware. These programs are designed to lock down computers and data until a monetary demand is paid. When these viruses first cropped up, they generally targeted users indiscriminately by casting a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":491,"featured_media":1401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2952,6],"tags":[99,1495,842,550],"class_list":["post-23407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-senior-living","category-technology","tag-data-security","tag-ransomware","tag-senior-living","tag-software"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.4 (Yoast SEO v24.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Yardi Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As technology advances, crime keeps pace. 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