FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday that Iranian government-backed hackers attempted a “despicable” cyberattack on Boston Children’s Hospital last year that threatened to disrupt patient care.
Wray detailed the incident in a speech at a conference hosted by Boston College, warning of the growing threat to US companies and infrastructure facilities from cyberattacks supported by nation-states such as Iran, Russia and China.
“We received a report from one of our intelligence partners that Boston Children’s Hospital was about to come under attack, and understanding the urgency of the situation, the cyber team of our Boston office rushed to notify the hospital,” Wray said.
The FBI said it contacted the hospital in August 2021, and Wray said authorities were able to quickly obtain the necessary information from the nationally-referenced children’s hospital to “immediately contain the danger” and mitigate the threat.
“The swift action of everyone involved in the hospital, in particular, protected both the network and the pediatric patients who depended on it,” Wray said in the most comprehensive statement by US officials on the incident.
In March, Wray said that Iran-backed hackers had compromised an unidentified children’s hospital in June 2021.
The 395-bed Boston Children’s Hospital confirmed in a statement that the FBI and its staff were “proactively blocking the threat to our network.”
source: Noticias
