Pro-Russian Killnet targets US hospitals

Russian hacktivist group Killnet launched multiple DDoS attacks on the US healthcare system, protesting US support for Ukraine.

At least 14 US healthcare organizations are being actively targeted by the notorious Russian hacktivist gang Killnet, presumably in response to President Biden’s promise last week to provide dozens of military tanks to war-torn Ukraine.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Cybersecurity Center (HC3) released an analysis note warning the healthcare sector about the attacks Monday.

“On January 28, 2023, the alleged Killnet attack lists for hospitals and medical organizations in several countries was found by users and publically shared,” HC3 stated.

Killnet had posted a message to followers along with the list of targets on its Telegram channel.

During Monday’s cyberattacks targeting the US, Dutch authorities reported Killnet successfully took out several hospitals in the Netherlands, also by way of DDoS attacks.

"It's very simple," Killnet's founder writes on his Telegram channel. "We are tearing down the medical facilities in these countries to support the Nazis in Ukraine."

“The group is known to launch DDoS attacks and operates multiple public channels aimed at recruitment and garnering attention from these attacks,” said HP3.

Killnet is known for its use of Distributed Denial of Service attacks.

A successful DDoS occurs when thousands of connection requests and packets are sent to a targeted server or website, overwhelming the network, and causing it to slow down and often go offline, the note stated.

HC3 claims it's rare for Killnet attacks to cause major damage, but the service outages can last several hours or even days.

Websites of the organizations targeted in the attack include Stanford Healthcare in California; Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina; Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California; University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, in Pennsylvania; Jefferson Health in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Abrazo Health in Phoenix, Arizona; and Atlanticare, from Atlantic County, New Jersey, according to the Daily Mail.

Many of the sites are already back up and running.

It's Killnet’s second coordinated attack on the US healthcare system in the past two months.

On December 23, the pro-Russian hacker gang successfully breached a US healthcare organization known for supporting US military personnel and threatened to expose the compromised patient data.

Last week, Biden pledged 31 M1 Abrams tanks, the amount needed to fulfill an entire Ukraine tank battalion.