By Dave McKay | September 24, 2020
German Police Probe ‘Negligent Homicide’ in Hospital Cyberattack
A ransomware attack on a German hospital is under investigation as a cybercrime, obviously, but it is also being investigated from a potential homicide viewpoint.
The ransomware attack delayed treatment for a female patient that led to her death, a state Justice Ministry has suggested.
The patient was scheduled to undergo life-saving treatment at the Düsseldorf University Clinic but a ransomware attack against about 30 servers forced emergency services to redirect ambulances to a different hospital in Wuppertal, about 60 Km away.
The state Justice Ministry suggested the woman had died as a result of the delay in treatment caused by the ransomware. Observers have suggested that her death is the first caused by a ransomware attack.
‘No concrete ransom’
Ironically, the hospital in Düsseldorf may not even have been the target. A note left on one of the servers suggest that the Heinrich Heine University was the intended victim. “There was no concrete ransom demand,” according to the hospital.
Source: DW.COM