The Medusa ransomware gang has claimed responsibility for attacks that knocked the University of Mississippi Medical Center offline for nine days and disrupted IT and phone systems in Passaic County, New Jersey. The group demanded $800,000, threatened to leak stolen data, and is suspected to operate from Russia based on language and operational indicators. #Medusa #UMMC
Keypoints
- Medusa claimed responsibility for the attack on the University of Mississippi Medical Center and an assault on Passaic County, NJ.
- UMMC was offline for nine days, forcing staff to run critical care operations with analog tools and to close 35 clinics.
- Essential services such as the state’s only children’s hospital, Level I trauma center, Level IV NICU, and transplant programs were impacted.
- The attackers demanded an $800,000 ransom and warned of a data leak while the FBI and DHS assisted recovery efforts.
- Experts link Medusa to Russia based on forum activity, Cyrillic use, avoidance of CIS targets, and a pattern of targeting U.S. healthcare and municipal organizations.
Read More: https://therecord.media/medusa-ransomware-mississippi-cyber