What happened?
Official working with Central Health, said that they are investigating a recent cyber attack. Investigation of one of its computer servers is underway, officials said.
What is Central health?
Central health is a local healthcare district created in 2004 by the voters of travis county which connects with several low income residents in the county to provide them quality healthcare.
When was this incident detected? what damages were incurred?
According to Central Health technology team, the cyber attack occurred on friday 4th december. There was an unauthorised access to the server found and the investigation is going on to determine the extent of the incident, data affected. The technology team is conducting a forensic analysis of the affected hardware, software and data.
The investigation done by the technology team of Central Health is being done with law enforcement and Affiliated communitycare Health centers, Sendero Health Plans and community care collaborative. Central Health’s investigation is yet to estimate the exact damage done by the breach. Central Health said more information will be shared later at the conclusion of the investigation.
What did the officials say?
The Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Central Health, John Clark, said “Our team sees thousands of attempted attacks on our system every day and we do not take them lightly. Fortunately, our Tech team has people and systems in place for this reason- to detect an attack early. Because of these efforts, we believe the attack was not fully carried out.”
What should you do to prevent yourself/company from such attacks?
Data breaches, Data leaks, DDoS, Ransomware attacks, Defacing of websites etc can be quiet damaging to not only the finances of a organisation/individual but also affects their reputation and other aspects in the industry. There aren’t any proactive counter measures which can help you during such attacks though. Hence, it is always better to prepare, as Prevention is better than cure.
Here are some steps you can take to ensure your preventive measures against such scenarios:
- Educate and train yourself & your employees against such attacks. Training against the known attack procedures can help you in long way.
- Do not open any email whose source can’t be trusted. report the same to your admins for further investigation.
- It is better to backup all the data that is being stored in your devices or servers. it is always better to have offline backups which can come in handy during such scenarios.
- Rely on a good and trusted Security tools and solutions. No compromise can be done here as they are guarding your business.
- Keep your private and work devices separate. If not possible, at least use different user environment on devices.
- Use trusted VPN provider for your/organization devices and network. Don’t fall into the free VPN trap. They usually don’t work and store your information.
- Always keep your devices up to date. You should install all the latest patch, drivers that are released only by the hardware manufacturer of your devices.
- Try not to access websites whose identity cannot be verified. Most of these websites can be identified by their shady website UI and offering of Paid software’s in free.
- Always listen to your IT Security consultant and plan your steps accordingly. You might know your business well, but your IT security consultant knows your systems and network better.
- Do not pay ransom to the ransomware operators ever. This would never ensure whether you would get your data back or the operators would not public or delete your data.
