MRI contrast injector among devices attacked by WannaCry in U.S.

Medical devices hit in the U.S. by the WannaCry ransomware attacks included a Bayer-Medrad MRI contrast-agent injector, according to a Forbes reporter who has obtained from an unnamed source a screen capture of the attack in progress.

“The source did not say which specific hospital was affected, nor could they confirm what Bayer model was hacked,” writes Thomas Fox-Brewster. 

Whatever the impact on patient health, the Bayer infections “represent the first known instance of ransomware directly affecting the operation of a medical device,” Fox-Brewster writes. “They’ve also provided the first evidence that the WannaCry outbreak hit U.S. healthcare bodies, showing that America’s own powerful intelligence tools have been turned against some of its most sensitive institutions.”

Click to read the article and view the screen cap: 

Dave Pearson

Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.

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