During his appearance before the Senate Finance Committee on Monday, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty provided updates on the cyberattack targeting its Change Healthcare unit earlier this year.
He stated that the company has been diligently working to restore its systems after experiencing widespread outages from the attack.
Witty disclosed that the hack on February 21st was carried out by a cybercriminal known as Blackcat or ALPHV, affirming previous reports attributing the attack to the ransomware group.
According to Witty, cybersecurity experts are actively investigating the incident. They have determined that the perpetrators gained access to Change’s systems nine days before deploying the ransomware, utilizing compromised credentials through a remote-access portal lacking multi-factor authentication.
The CEO cautioned that it may take months to fully grasp the extent of the data breach. He reiterated that files containing protected health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII) were discovered, potentially affecting a significant portion of the American population.
UnitedHealth Group anticipates a $1.6 billion impact this year due to the cyberattack. The disruption caused by the attack on Change, a crucial provider of health care billing and data systems, resulted in payment delays to medical professionals and health care facilities nationwide, particularly affecting community health centers catering to over 30 million vulnerable patients.
Roger Connor, CEO of UnitedHealth’s OptumInsight unit overseeing Change, reported that 80% of Change’s pharmacy claims and payment management businesses are operational.
The company aims to reintroduce more services in the coming weeks, with expectations of returning to baseline performance by next year.
Witty assured lawmakers that UnitedHealth Group is fully committed to resolving the situation, emphasizing the continuous efforts of the company’s personnel.
He pledged relentless dedication until the issue is completely resolved, underscoring the company’s unwavering commitment to rectifying the aftermath of the cyberattack.
