UnitedHealth's subsidiary Change Health has confirmed its systems are currently experiencing network interruptions after a security breach, immediately disconnecting their systems. A measure that sources indicate has inadvertently caused delays in some pharmacies.
As per the UnitedHealth subsidiary's incident report page, the incident first caused some applications of Change Health to be unavailable on February 21, 2024. This would quickly become an enterprise-wise connectivity interruption after just a few hours.
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Sweden has grappled with disruptions in their online services following a ransomware attack attributed to a Russian hacker group.
Change Health would then confirm it was experiencing a cyber security issue. It prompted its security experts to remedy the situation, clarifying that the business believes Change Healthcare is the only affected system and that all other UnitedHealth Group systems are up and running.
The company would then simultaneously announce that it anticipates the cyber security issue to continue for at least the entire day. The company has since re-posted the same update on its incident report page numerous times since the breach started.
Nation-State Hackers Behind UnitedHealth Breach
As per UnitedHealth Group's SEC filing on the incident, first reported by Bloomberg, a suspected nation-state-affiliated cyber security threat actor was found to have accessed portions of the Change Healthcare information technology systems during the incident.
The filing also adds that although the company is making every effort to restore those systems as soon as possible, UnitedHealth is currently unable to predict how long the interruption will last or how big it will be.
However, the company maintained that it had informed clients, customers, and some government organizations about the incident, hired top security specialists, and collaborated with law enforcement.
UnitedHealth Breach Causes Prescription Delays
CBS reports that the breach has caused even some of the most significant pharmacies in the country to experience delays in their prescription services.
The report states that on Wednesday and Thursday, two military pharmacies in California and the Midwest and a family-run pharmacy claimed that they could not process prescriptions due to network failures that affected national healthcare providers.
In a revised post on Thursday morning, Canadian Lakes reported that it had resumed filling prescriptions and billing most of its clients' insurance policies.
Later on Thursday, however, at least two more pharmacies informed clients that network problems caused delays in filling prescriptions. 22nd Medical Group, which provides services at the McConnell Air Force base in Kansas, stated on social media that the pharmacy could not process new prescriptions due to "an unexpected enterprise-wide" system outage but could still dispense completed prescriptions.
A Walgreens representative also reportedly told CBS News in a statement that while a tiny portion of prescriptions might be impacted, the pharmacy chain was not facing any significant obstacles when processing prescriptions.
Change Healthcare is reportedly Change Healthcare manages one of the biggest healthcare technology providers in the US. Patient payments throughout the US healthcare system.
The company reportedly states on its website that it processes 15 billion healthcare transactions annually and that its clinical connectivity solutions impact one in three patient records in the United States.
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