Cyberattack on UnitedHealth Tech Unit Impacts Nearly 200 Million People

In a significant cybersecurity incident, a cyberattack at UnitedHealth Group's tech unit last year has impacted 192.7 million people, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This attack, which was disclosed in February 2024, has been described as the largest healthcare data breach in the United States to date.

The hackers, who identified themselves as the "Blackcat" ransomware group, infiltrated the UnitedHealth unit, causing widespread disruptions in claims processing and impacting patients and providers across the country. The personal information compromised in the attack is believed to include health insurance member IDs, patient diagnoses, treatment information, social security numbers, and billing codes used by providers.

In a separate incident, the U.S. Fermilab research center was also hit by a cyberattack targeting Microsoft's SharePoint software. The full extent of the Fermilab breach and its impact on operations is still being investigated.

These cybersecurity incidents underscore the growing threat faced by healthcare and research organizations, as they continue to grapple with the challenges of protecting sensitive data and maintaining critical operations in the face of increasingly sophisticated attacks.