{"id":18885,"date":"2021-05-21T10:36:50","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T14:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=18885"},"modified":"2021-05-21T10:36:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T14:36:50","slug":"hse-cyber-attack-hackers-bail-out-irish-health-service-for-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2021\/05\/21\/hse-cyber-attack-hackers-bail-out-irish-health-service-for-free\/","title":{"rendered":"HSE cyber-attack: Hackers bail out Irish health service for free"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hackers responsible for causing widespread disruption to the Irish health system have unexpectedly gifted it with the tool to help it recover.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Conti ransomware group was reportedly asking the health service for $20m (\u00a314m) to restore services\u00a0after the “catastrophic hack”<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But now the criminals have handed over the software tool for free.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Irish government says it is testing the tool and insists it did not, and would not, be paying the hackers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Conti is still threatening to publish or sell data it has stolen unless a ransom is paid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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On its darknet website, it told HSE: “We are providing the decryption tool for your network for free.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“But you should understand that we will sell or publish a lot of private data if you will not connect us and try to resolve the situation.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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‘No ransom’ pledge<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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It was unclear why the hackers gave the tool – known as a decryption key – for free, said Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“No ransom has been paid by this government directly, indirectly, through any third party or any other way. Nor will any such ransom be paid,” he told Irish broadcaster RT\u00c9.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It came as a surprise to us. Our technical team are currently testing the tool. The initial responses are positive.”<\/p>\n

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Threats to publish data<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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A decryption key is a computer programme that reverses the damage done by ransomware.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ransomware groups usually encrypt data on victims networks scrambling files to make them unusable without the decryption key.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Irish government says the tool could get hospitals and the health care system back to normal sooner than the process of rebuilding their IT from scratch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Irish Department of Health was\u00a0attacked last Thursday, with a similar attack on the Health Service Executive (HSE) last Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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