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Understanding ransomware and strategies to defeat it

McAfee Labs

Published August 2016

In February 2016 the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, in Los Angeles, paid a ransom of about US$17,000 to hackers who infiltrated and disabled its computer network with ransomware.

The hospital paid the ransom of 40 Bitcoins (currently worth about $16,664) after a “network infiltration” began on February 5, when employees reported being unable to access the hospital’s network and electronic medical records system. “The malware locked access to certain computer systems and prevented us from sharing communications electronically,” said hospital CEO Allen Stefanek.