Cybersecurity group ramps up defense of healthcare providers, dismantles nearly 3K threats 

Jackie Drees -

Since assembling in mid-March, the nonprofit cybersecurity defense group CTI League has struck down more than 2,800 cybercriminal assets on the internet and identified 2,000 security vulnerabilities in healthcare organizations, according to a recent report. 

Cybersecurity experts from Microsoft, Amazon and other global tech companies formed the CTI League on March 14 with the mission to enhance cyber defense capabilities for healthcare organizations to combat the surge in coronavirus-related cyberattacks targeting healthcare organizations. The team now comprises more than 1,200 members. 

CTI League has neutralized ransomware and phishing attacks on hospitals and collaborated with law enforcement to shut down malicious websites and servers, the group's co-founder Ohad Zaidenberg, a researcher for a private Israeli security firm, told Bloomberg

Since February, IBM's X-Force, which tracks online security threats, has seen a 4,300 percent increase in spam related to COVID-19, according to Bloomberg. Most of the ransomware is originating in Europe, and in about 60 percent of cases the cyberattackers are using stolen information as leverage. 

"We're going to see larger attacks on the whole infrastructure," said Wendi Whitmore, who oversees IBM's global intelligence response team, according to the report. "Any part of the supply chain that enables us to do business as usual is a viable target right now for a ransomware attack."

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