UnitedHealth paid ransom after massive Change Healthcare cyberattack

Key Facts

Edited By Alain Sherter April 23, 2024 / 10:50 AM EDT / CBS News Massive health care cyberattack hits providers Health care providers struggle as cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group's subsidiary takes toll 02:24 The Russia-based cybercriminals who attacked a UnitedHealth Group-owned company in February did not walk away from the endeavor empty-handed.
"A ransom was paid as part of the company's commitment to do all it could to protect patient data from disclosure," a UnitedHealth Group spokesperson confirmed with CBS News late Monday.
The spokesperson did not disclose how much the health giant paid after the cyberattack, which shut down operations at hospitals and pharmacies for more than a week.
Doctor describes devastating effects of UnitedHealth cyberattack 02:22 The scale of the attack — Change Healthcare processes 15 billion transactions a year, according to the American Hospital Association —meant that even patients weren't customers of UnitedHealth were potentially affected.