HHS puts $50M toward hospitals’ ransomware fight


A new agency within the National Institutes of Health is launching a $50 million initiative to develop tools for hospital IT teams that enhance their cybersecurity measures and resources to combat ransomware.

On May 20, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health introduced its Universal PatchinG and Remediation for Autonomous DEfense, or UPGRADE, program. “What if every hospital could autonomously protect itself and patients from cyber threats?” That is the guiding question for the initiative, which aims to develop a tailored and scalable software suite of remediations and patches for hospitals, reducing the patching time for vulnerable healthcare products to days or weeks.

Read more…
Source: Backer’s Health IT


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • DarkSide ransomware will now vet targets after pipeline cyberattack

    May 10, 2021

    The DarkSide ransomware gang posted a new “press release” today stating that they are apolitical and will vet all targets before they are attacked. Last week, the ransomware gang encrypted the network for the Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the United States. Read more… Source: Bleeping Computer Related story: Colonial Pipeline cyberattack shuts down pipeline that supplies ...

  • Colonial Pipeline cyberattack shuts down pipeline that supplies 45% of East Coast’s fuel

    May 8, 2021

    Colonial Pipeline, which accounts for 45% of the East Coast’s fuel, said it has shut down its operations due to a cyberattack. The attack highlights how ransomware and other cyberattacks are increasingly a threat to real-world infrastructure. The company delivers refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, home heating oil and fuel for the ...

  • Biden Administration Drafting EO to Help U.S. Government Secure Digital Supply Chain

    May 3, 2021

    Biden Administration Drafting EO to Help U.S. Gov’t Secure Digital Supply Chain The Biden administration said it’s drafting an executive order to help the United States government better defend itself against digital supply chain attacks. A Step Up for Federal Procurement According to NPR, the executive order that’s being drafted will include several initiatives designed to strengthen the ...

  • San Diego: Scripps Health Cyberattack Causes Widespread Hospital Outages

    May 3, 2021

    Scripps Health, a hospital network based in San Diego, was hit by a cyberattack over the weekend, forcing some critical-care patients to be diverted, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Scripps acknowledged the attack in a statement but didn’t specify whether it was a ransomware incident. It’s also unknown whether the adversaries compromised any patient records ...

  • Multi-Gov Task Force Plans to Take Down the Ransomware Economy

    April 29, 2021

    Ransomware has reached crisis levels across business sectors and across the globe, but a public-private Ransomware Task Force aims to stem the tide of attacks by disrupting the crooks’ business model. The Institute for Security and Technology (IST) put together the coalition, which includes more than 60 members from software companies, government agencies, cybersecurity vendors, financial ...

  • Experian API Leaks Most Americans’ Credit Scores

    April 29, 2021

    A researcher is claiming that the credit scores of almost every American were exposed through an API tool used by the Experian credit bureau, that he said was left open on a lender site without even basic security protections. Experian, for its part, refuted concerns from the security community that the issue could be systemic. The tool, ...