Quote:The INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organisation) warns that cybercriminals are increasingly attempting to lockout hospitals out of critical systems by attempting to deploy ransomware on their networks despite the currently ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
 
This doesn't come as a surprise even though some operators behind various ransomware strains have told BleepingComputer last month that they will stop targeting health and medical organizations during the pandemic.
 
Since then, Maze released data stolen from a drug testing company encrypted before their statement of not targeting healthcare, while Ryuk continues to attack hospitals despite most of them being flooded with new COVID-19 cases every day.
 
Russian-speaking threat actors have also attacked two European companies in the pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries in incidents suspected to involve ransomware.
 
INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Threat Response team at its Cyber Fusion Centre also said over the weekend that it "has detected a significant increase in the number of attempted ransomware attacks against key organizations and infrastructure engaged in the virus response."
 
Following this discovery, the INTERPOL says that it has issued a "Purple Notice alerting police in all its 194 member countries to the heightened ransomware threat."