Bitcoin Forum

Cyber Security is the number one priority in this new technological economic age. So how do we do?
Botosani Hospital Server was attacked by hackers and they demanded bitcoin as the payment ransom. The hackers demanded  3 BTC to be paid.

s/www.romania-insider.com/database-romanian-hospital-held-ransom-hackers-jan-2023%3famp]Database of Romanian hospital held for ransom by hackers (https://www.[Suspicious link removed)
Please don't disclose you keys to anyone.

I think I have read that in some countries and jurisdictions around the world it is illegal for people and organizations to pay ransom in case of attacks like these ones.
I wonder if the laws in Romania are similar, so criminal hacking groups won't get as much money as they expect from their victims.

Also, OP.
This is not about the management of keys, this is likely a result of poor security by that hospital in romania..

The hackers were able to access the hospital's database and encrypt it, leaving a message stating that 3 bitcoins ($50,000 at the current price) must be paid as a ransom for decryption. Neither the computer specialists from the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism nor experts working for the Romanian cybersecurity firm Bitdefender were able to decrypt the files
According to what news websites are circulating, this incident is not the first of its kind in Romania, as a large number of breaches have occurred since 2019, targeting health care institutions.

The link is broken. You can use one of the following article links for more details :
https://news.bitcoin.com/hackers-hit-romanian-hospital-demand-bitcoin-ransom/
https://tokenpost.com/Hackers-demand-Bitcoin-from-Romanian-hospital-hit-by-a-ransomware-attack-9862

Hackers also demand dollars or euros, so that's no big deal. Such news is always spread and publicized by mostly anti-Bitcoin forces that want to justify their opposition to the currency. If this hack happened in my country, the government would ensure that this news makes the cover page of all leading newspapers. The CBN governor would immediately hold a press conference to discuss this issue and to tell the populace how Bitcoin is a currency of criminals. These hackers gained access to the Romanian hospital server because their security is compromised or not advanced.

Why do I have the impression that this is about bitcoin? Based on what the hackers are demanding, anyone who has a negative perception of bitcoin can easily and proudly claim that bitcoin is a tool that facilitates crime because criminals use it to conceal their criminal activities. Any other currency can be used to demand money, which in my opinion is a bad thing because it will cause some kind of black ash in the world's adoption of bitcoin. I hope they improve their security to avoid similar hacks in the future.

Cyberattacks are now hitting the moon, many databases are getting compromised as the day goes by. Cybersecurity is now needed more than ever because technology is ever evolving. Bitcoin is a currency for the masses, so anyone can use it. Demanding Bitcoin for ransom is just the same as demanding fiat for ransom, but this time they prefer having full control of the currency BTC.  It is left for Botosani Hospital to negotiate or pay the full ransom and recover back their datas then higher cyber security experts to cover of the bridge.

The problem with today's organizations is they are doing away with IT staff with cyber security knowledge and thinking the secretary or anybody will do it because they are able to install some anti virus on a computer so some blame is on the organisation's. But if we go back to the basics this will tone down for sure.


And I thought this only happens in the movies ::)  how can one be so heartless that they want a hospital to come to a halt in this time and age that needs the technology to operate.. So unfortunate! I hope they taint the coins if they choose to pay the ransom.

How it is even related? Hackers were able to get into the server of the hospital, is due to their poor cyber security. Your bitcoin keys have nothing to do with this entire incident!

It's a shame that bitcoin is getting associated with almost all hacking incidents happening in recent times. These kinds of incidents actually give more reasons to the enforcement agencies to push for a ban.

But looking at the ransom amount, I am quite sure that the hackers are new and most probably collage students. professional hackers will not ask for such a small ransom!

Hackers are a threat to the cyber security of a nation, a corporation, an individual, anytime and any day. Even if their price most times could be a pain to fulfill or not, better features and advanced security verification and setup should be mandatory for these users as well as being resolute in training and equipping staffs and other users on how to be more aware/cautious. Also, steep punishments should be mete out for any hacker caught in these parts, so as to reduce their persistent escapades.

No surprises because bitcoin is a currency and it has value, as good people are accepting bitcoin, criminals are also accepting it. Bitcoin is largely involved in money laundry, drugging and other social vices. There is nothing to be surprised about.
But I don't think that there is any relationship between data breach which resulted to hacking with securing your private keys.
It is just not related at all

This is highlighted because the criminal demands a Bitcoin ransom. We would not have acknowledged about this hack if the hackers had demanded a ransom in fiat. Criminals or hackers, on the other hand, feel safe when transactions take place in Bitcoin. Because no one can track them down or arrest them. It's bad for the Bitcoin community, but not for Bitcoin itself. We can't stop criminals from using Bitcoin like we can't stop them from using fiat currency. We don't want to see more news like this, which is hurting Bitcoin supporters.

It's stupid and unethical to demand Bitcoin ransom from hospitals, but this just shows how insecure and exposed our medical records are.
I would not trust governments in keeping anything specially in recent years, but I think they are again going to blame ''evil bitcoin'' for this hack.
How stupid they sound now when they want to go all digital with CBDC and everything else, just imagine how much will hacking cases increase then.

It all depends on which vulnerabilities were exploited for hackers to gain access to backend medical databases.

In some cases, hackers use undocumented zero day exploits, for which there is no patch and no means of defense, aside from servers not being connected to the internet. Which can drastically limit features and functionality.

Zero day exploits are a huge factor with these types of hacks. While there are bounties paid out for finding and disclosing zero day vulns on the defense side. The market purchasing zero day vulns for offense pays out considerably more money. The result is most quality zero day exploits being sold to the highest bidder with a motive to use them for attacks.

IT security in the current era tends to be a low priority from a budgeting perspective. There is also a shortage of personnel in the IT security industry.

There are a number of factors which converge to make things like this possible, or perhaps even commonplace. With there not appearing to be much incentive or motivation to address it.

Nothing new and we do have the same similar situations back in the past in connecting with these hackings and asking Bitcoin as ransom.

https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/crypto/the-history-of-hacking-ransoms-and-cryptocurrency/
It would be a good read up in relation to this topic.

How about this?
Ransomware Hackers Demand $70 Million In Bitcoin, Claim Massive U.S. Attack As Biden Investigates Possible Russian Involvement
Ransomware Hackers Demand $70 Million In Bitcoin, Claim Massive U.S. Attack As Biden Investigates Possible Russian Involvement[/b]]Link (http://[b)

As a company then spending up some good budget for security wont really be that a bad idea to
avoid up such probable situations or conditions.

Hackers may just take advantage of the anonymity of bitcoin and hide behind it so that they are not easily tracked by the police. After all the hacker probably knows there's a way to make those transactions less easy to track, it's kind of like using a mixer. IMO - it's a safe option for him instead of expecting ransom in fiat.

If in this case bitcoin is to blame, then of course those who blame bitcoin are the absolute fools. The knife is not to blame for the murder, but the killer is. The government cannot be trusted when it comes to data security, it tends to be easily hacked and sold on the black market.

Isn't it already time for health institutions and governments' departments to store data in "cold devices"? This way they totally prevent this kind of criminal threat from existing. It's like storing bitcoins in cold wallets without internet access to protect it at all costs. Every devices connected to the internet are under risk of being invaded and hacked and there is no sure way to avoid it.

Since thieves are getting smarter these days, while security professionals are getting negligent, I see no other alternative than this. Now imagine if this kind of practice become a thing worlwide...

Similar incidents have taken place in the past. Mostly this happens with the hospital servers, because when it comes to life saving the authorities might think of settling the ransom and getting the problem solved. In the past these kind of attacks were easily tackled and the servers were taken back into control. Loss of data could happen, but experts could retrieve back the functioning.

One shouldn't imply bitcoin is used as a precondition for any hacks. The root causes are merely on the cyber security or digital security side of the hacked organization. Bitcoin is not the cause, bitcoin can't even responsible for any of such crimes.

There are exists some people who want to believe that bitcoin is deeply incorporated within the hack accident, and that is supported by any media who have bad prejudice of bitcoin in the first place. So, we should focus on the causes of why the accident happened in the first place, not the tools that are used by hackers.

I feel very pity for the hacker because its target is the hospital and there are a lot of people who are admitted to this hospital and these people's life may be in danger once some things will turn bad during the negotiation.
Another thing is for Bitcoin, by doing this, Bitcoin is becoming dirty because these people are using Bitcoin. This is one of the examples of why some people think that Bitcoin is a fraud because it is being used by criminals.

Bitcoin is not anonymous

Bitcoin was never designed with anonymity in mind, only pseudonymity. That means every Bitcoin address is a unique reference-able entity that can be correlated (by exchanges for example) with your real life identity. Mixers can only obfuscate this link, and make the paper trail longer and harder to unwind.

True anonymity requires that you generate a bunch of garbage inputs or addresses for each transaction as some alts already do.

Either someone knows the weak security links in the Romania or its going all the way insider job to give critical information to spread the viruses with that rate. This is not rare, throughout the world various government and private sector servers are hacked, asked for ransoms and many of them do follow the procedure to save the data of their users or sometimes companies confidential data.

World has become so brutal that sometimes "Ethical Hackers" within the company are turning against the same company who pays them the salary! Just out of some anger issues, lower payscales and shit like that. You never know whats the story behind the curtains but security is major issue these days.

Blockchain adoption should be intensified!

There has never been a smoke without fire. I had to read through  from the first link you provided and found this;
 "The attack has been well-prepared, the publication noted. Neither the computer specialists from the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism nor experts working for the Romanian cybersecurity firm Bitdefender were able to decrypt the information."

Most times things if this nature does not just happen that way.  They are pre-planned and only God knows who must have been up to committing that nefarious act against the hospital. I really do not believe someone from outside could get details to override a system so easily to get access and also locking up data to that extent. This is very much audible to ones understanding that there is more to this act but what annoys me most is the ransome demanded in bitcoin. This is a bad omen to the bitcoin community giving room for non enthusiast to making critique of bitcoin as being used for crime.

There are many possible angles on this case and that includes inside job, anonymity, and accessibility. Accessibility might be easier for health related establishments unlike with government and other 'technicalities'. Next is with inside job; given that the database could be easier to be acessed, still it would or supposedly allow people to have linkages on it if they are an employee or even former employee. Lastly is anonymity. This might be the reason why hackers demanded Bitcoin in order to hide their identities from the authority through the help of decentralization.
That's just how works to some, especially to cases wherein money is involved. You cannot ask a bad guy to be a good one in the first place,

I don't expect just because of this case bitcoin will be scapegoated by people who hate it. There have been many cases of hacks demanding ransoms in fiat currency, and one shouldn't blame fiat for that.

Bitcoin is an option here as one of the currencies that supports privacy, but it is clear that bitcoin is not anonymous because all bitcoin transactions are public and traceable. Mixer and TOR services might break traceability and hide IP, but if something improved in the future so it's always possible to find out who did it.

Seems to be MITM attack, the hackers didn't directly breach the hospital databases, as far as I understand, what they breach is the company that supposed to maintain their computers and networks. And that's why the hackers were able to get accessed to the hospital records and encrypt it.


I do agree, in some organizations like hospitals, education and even energy and utilities, they tend not to put a huge budget on their computer/network systems and so they are vulnerable to this kind of exploits and attacks.

And if others could still remember one of the biggest cyber attacks in the last 3 years, Report: 40% of healthcare organizations hit by WannaCry in past 6 months (https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/lingering-impacts-from-wannacry-40-healthcare-organizations-suffered-from-attack-past-6-months).

And up to this day, they haven't learn a lesson or two.

It would be a good promotion for cryptocurrency if somehow they choose the option to pay and Bitcoin and be able to track the traces of hackers.  Instead of people thinking that Bitcoin is the currency of criminals and money launderers, they will get to know that Bitcoin is transparent that enables the combat of illegal money transfers, thus a good currency that can expose and trace people behind the illegal transactions.

I was quite confused on what thought that OP wants to convey, but based on the story, it’s certainly poor security on the hospital itself, and not on our own bitcoin account. And Romania I think is also crypto friendly that’s why bitcoin is not unusual to them and they realize that bitcoin has a great value. Sadly, those hackers must have seen how to take advantage on other people’s bitcoin.