AHA, H-ISAC warn Hospitals about Black Basta following Ascension Cyberattack

The Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center issued a threat alert Friday about the Russia-backed ransomware group Black Basta, warning of its accelerated attempted attacks against the healthcare sector. Prompted by H-ISAC, the American Hospital Association also sent a cybersecurity advisory with technical mitigation recommendations to its members.The alerts come in the wake of a major cyberattack impacting St. Louis-based Ascension health system that started this past Wednesday and continues to hamstring clinical operations.Staff at Ascension's hospitals reported flying blind with some clinical and IT services, including imaging, after widespread disruption that has the health system working to recover its systems.At least two healthcare organizations "in Europe and in the United States" saw serious operational disruptions in the past month after being hit with Black Basta ransomware, according to H-ISAC in the new bulletin.