The ransomware attack on UnitedHealth's Change Healthcare subsidiary last month not only brought to light how attractive the data-rich U.S. health-care industry is to hackers and how devastating the consequences for patients and doctors, but also how sophisticated cyber criminals are becoming when targeting vulnerable sectors.
Change Healthcare is the largest clearinghouse for insurance billing and payments in the U.S.
Since the February 21 attack, the thousands of doctors, hospitals and other health providers that depend on Change Healthcare for billing reimbursements have not been paid as the company works to bring its systems back online.
UnitedHealth told CNBC in a statement that it will cooperate with the investigation from the OCR.
"Our immediate focus is to restore our systems, protect data and support those whose data may have been impacted," the company said.
Persons:
UnitedHealth, Sumedh Thakar, Qualys, it's
Organizations:
Change Healthcare, U.S . Department of Health, Human Services, HHS, Civil Rights, CNBC
Locations:
U.S