Nearly $52.5M settlement to be paid by Fred Hutch over 2023 cyberattack

Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center has agreed to an almost $52.5 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit regarding a Hunters International ransomware attack in November 2023, which was reported to have impacted 800,000 patients, reports The Register.

Information exfiltrated during the Thanksgiving intrusion had been leveraged by attackers to facilitate threatening extortion techniques against cancer patients, according to the class action. Individuals part of the class action will receive not only $25.5 million for insurance and medical fraud monitoring but also $11.5 million in cash, while almost $13.5 million will be allocated toward infrastructure security enhancements, noted the settlement. Fred Hutch emphasized not paying the ransom demanded by attackers, as well as the lack of evidence suggesting any misuse of the compromised data. Such a development comes as Hunters International was reported to be on the cusp of a rebrand due to the volatile nature of the ransomware landscape.