Below please see the email alert Mercy Care Plan and Mercy Maricopa Integrated Care received from Homeland Security regarding the WannaCry variant of ransomware currently impacting tens of thousands of computers.
News outlets are reporting ransomware attacks in Europe, China, Japan, and the U.S. that exploit a known issue in Microsoft operating systems. The WannaCry variant of ransomware is exploiting computers that have not installed a Microsoft security update released in March.
Please confirm you are taking the appropriate steps to safeguard [Mercy Care Plan or Mercy Care Advantage or Mercy Maricopa Integrated Care] data from cyberattacks.
The following was received from the National Cyber Awareness System:
US-CERT has received multiple reports of WannaCry ransomware infections in several countries around the world.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that infects a computer and restricts users' access to it until a ransom is paid to unlock it. Individuals and organizations are discouraged from paying the ransom, as this does not guarantee access will be restored.
Ransomware spreads easily when it encounters unpatched or outdated software. The WannaCry ransomware may be exploiting a vulnerability in Server Message Block 1.0 (SMBv1). For information on how to mitigate this vulnerability, review the US-CERT article on
Microsoft SMBv1 Vulnerability and the Microsoft Security Bulletin
MS17-010. Users and administrators are encouraged to review the US-CERT Alert
TA16-091A to learn how to best protect against ransomware. Please report any ransomware incidents to the
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
As always, don't hesitate to contact your
Mercy Care or your
Mercy Maricopa Provider Relations Representative with any questions or comments. You can find this notice and all other provider notices on our
Mercy Care Plan or
Mercy Maricopa website.
