Ransom Home Demands $4.5 Million From Barcelona Hospital After Cyberattack
Summary
Catalan officials say Ransom Home demanded $4.5 million to prevent publication of information accessed in an attack on Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. The hospital will not pay; medical services were disrupted, with recovery underway.
Key points
- Catalan officials said Ransom Home contacted the hospital five days after the attack and demanded $4.5 million to prevent publication of accessed information.
- The regional government said it would not pay; officials warned of a high risk that patient data and hospital research could be published.
- A Catalan cybersecurity official said attackers accessed patient and other information totaling four terabits, while the hospital had not lost data.
- The attack disrupted hospital services: 4,000 outpatient tests, 300 procedures, and 11,000 medical appointments were missed that week.
- The hospital had restored some services, including 90% of complex surgery activity, but radiotherapy remained unavailable; officials expected it to resume early the following week.
- Police planned online monitoring to limit publication of data and an investigation to identify those responsible.
- Officials warned people not to respond to messages asking for personal information or open links claiming to come from the hospital or other services.
Article Details
- Victim Organization
- Hospital Clínic de Barcelona
- Incident Type
- Cyberattack that disrupted hospital systems and involved access to information, followed by a ransom demand and threat to publish data.
- Data Types Exposed
- Patient information
- Research information
- Other unspecified information
- Affected Data Size
- Four terabits of information, according to the director general of the Catalan Cybersecurity Agency.
- Operational Impact
- The attack disrupted hospital services. During the week, about 4,000 outpatient tests, 300 procedures, and 11,000 medical appointments were not carried out. The hospital later recovered 90% of complex surgical activity, 40% of less complex surgical activity, 70% of outpatient consultations, and stroke and heart attack codes. Radiotherapy had not yet resumed.
- Ransom Or Extortion
- According to officials, Ransom Home contacted the hospital five days after the attack and demanded $4.5 million to prevent publication of accessed data. The Catalan regional government said it would not pay. Officials described the group’s approach as double extortion: blocking systems and threatening to publish or sell data if payment is not made.
- Claim Status
- confirmed
People
Antoni CastellsMedical director of Hospital Clínic de Barcelona; provided information on service recovery and the expected resumption of radiotherapy.Ramon ChaconHead of Criminal Investigation for the Mossos d’Esquadra; described the extortion method and the police response.Sergi MarcénCatalan regional government secretary for Telecommunications and Digital Transformation; reported the ransom demand and the government’s decision not to pay.Tomàs RoyDirector general of the Catalan Cybersecurity Agency; reported that patient and other information had been accessed and estimated its volume at four terabits.