A “Serious” Ransomware Attack Hits Russian Medical Lab, Delaying Test Results Helix, a Russian medical laboratory, faced a severe cyberattack that caused disruptions in delivering test results to customers. Hackers attempted to infect the company’s systems with ransomware, leading to partial restoration of website functionality and e-health services without paying the ransom.
While no customer personal data was leaked, many clients complained of delayed results, prompting the company to reset all customer passwords and strengthen security measures to prevent future attacks.
The situation escalated as some customers received test results, but others voiced dissatisfaction on the company’s official Telegram channel, seeking refunds and expressing urgent needs for their test results, especially for hospitalization and COVID-19 tests. The company’s response to the incident included resetting passwords and bolstering security protocols. The involvement of law enforcement agencies is still under consideration based on the outcome of the investigation.
The cyberattack has raised concerns about the perpetrators’ motives, leaving uncertainty about whether the hackers were financially or politically motivated. A previous incident in May involved a pro-Ukrainian hacker group stealing data from the Russian medical laboratory chain Citilab, with around 500,000 individuals’ personal information exposed.
As the company’s information security department seeks to identify the responsible group, the authenticity of the published data is confirmed, but any communication with the hackers remains undisclosed.
