Varian Medical Systems, United Medical Centers claimed to be attacked by LockBit ransomware

U.S. radiation oncology treatment and software manufacturer Varian Medical Systems and Southwest Texas-based healthcare provider United Medical Centers are the latest healthcare organizations claimed to have been compromised by the LockBit ransomware operation, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. Despite acknowledging the claims of LockBit and moving to mitigate cybersecurity risk, Varian parent firm Siemens Healthineers has not confirmed the legitimacy of the data purportedly stolen by the ransomware operation that has been posted on its leak site. "We have activated our incident response protocol and have a dedicated taskforce investigating the incident," said a Siemens Healthineers spokesperson. On the other hand, UMC, which was also added to the LockBit ransomware leak site last week, initially disclosed a network disruption in late July, which it sought to immediately address. Both developments follow a report from Analyst1 Chief Security Strategist Jon DiMaggio that noted LockBit's waning operational strength. Aside from having its leadership missing in action during the first two weeks of the month, LockBit has also been experiencing backend infrastructure issues that have hampered the publication of stolen data, said DiMaggio.