One evening in April, Dave Winston stood in a convenience store in suburban Charlotte, N.C., uneasily shoving $20 bills into a slim automated-teller machine unlike any he had ever seen.He was buying bitcoin, a digital currency unknown to him a few hours earlier, before hackers took over his computer.Winston, crew chief with the Circle Sport-Leavine Family Nascar race team, is among a growing number of victims of a pernicious... Most Popular Videos Film Clip: 'The Big Sick' A New Road to Income: Barron's Buzz 'Bridge Crew': Voice Command Comes to 'Star Trek' VR Videogame Lower Your Wireless Bill With These Tips Opinion Journal: Macron vs.Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid a $17,000 ransom in bitcoin to a hacker who seized control of the hospital's computer systems and would give back access only when the money was paid, the hospital's chief executive said Wednesday.The assault on Hollywood Presbyterian occurred Feb.5, when hackers using malware infected the institution's computers, preventing hospital staff from being able to communicate from those devices, said Chief Executive Allen Stefanek.

The hacker demanded 40 bitcoin, the equivalent of about $17,000, he said.Join the conversation on Facebook >> “The malware locks systems by encrypting files and demanding ransom to obtain the decryption key.The quickest and most efficient way to restore our systems and administrative functions was to pay the ransom and obtain the decryption key,” Stefanek said.bitcoin wiki cs“In the best interest of restoring normal operations, we did this.”The hospital said it alerted authorities and was able to regain control of all its computer systems by Monday, with the assistance of technology experts.Stefanek said patient care was never compromised, nor were hospital records.Top hospital officials called the Los Angeles Police Department last week, according to police Lt.litecoin forum downLaura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman, said the bureau has taken over the hacking investigation but declined to discuss specifics of the case.bitcoin fca

Law enforcement sources told The Times that the hospital paid the ransom before reaching out to law enforcement for assistance.The attack forced the hospital to return to pen and paper for its record-keeping.Phil Lieberman, a cybersecurity expert, said that, while ransomware attacks are common, targeting a medical institution is not.“I have never heard of this kind of attack trying to shut down a hospital.bitcoin exchange italiaThis puts lives at risk, and it is sickening to see such an act,” he said.bitcoin blockchain meaning“Health management systems are beginning to tighten their security.”The 434-bed short-term acute care hospital on Vermont Avenue is owned by CHC of South Korea.Under federal law, hospitals are required to report potential medical data breaches involving more than 500 people.ethereum bad shares

Since 2010, at least 158 institutions, including medical providers, insurers and hospitals, have reported being hacked or having information technology issues that compromised patient records, federal records show.Ransom attacks are still relatively rae.But cyberattacks on hospitals have become more common in recent years as hackers pursue personal information they can use for fraud schemes.reddit bitcoin hatLast July, hackers may have accessed as many 4.5 million patient records in UCLA Health System's computer network.For SoCal crime & investigations follow me on Twitter @lacrimesApple CEO says helping FBI hack into terrorist's iPhone would be 'too dangerous'The futile fight to save Autumn, a 1-year-old victim of gang violence in ComptonSentenced to prison for assault, teenage 'parachute kids' deliver warning to adults in Chinadogecoin to dollars

In the age of cyber threats, companies are stockpiling digital currency in preparation of future "ransomware" attacks — which have grown exponentially over the past few years.The most recent attack, known as "WannaCry," took hundreds of thousands of computers' data files hostage unless users paid a $300 to $600 ransom via Bitcoin, a popular digital currency.bitcoin joint statementNow many companies are maintaining a stash of the digital cash because of the rise of ransomware, according to cybersecurity experts and firms."It's one of the tools in their pockets," said cybersecurity and Bitcoin expert Florin Lazurca, the senior technical marketing manager for security at Citrix Systems."It's one of the things where you might be trying to cover all your bases, and so it lets you still recover your data and network."But it's recovery by giving in to the cybercriminals' demands, yet that is the only option for some companies who need immediate access to their data — such as hospitals and financial institutions — and have more money than technological prowess or time.

Both were targeted in the recent hack.According to research conducted by Citrix, about a third of British companies in 2016 retained a cache of digital monies as part of a strategy to "regain access to important intellectual property or business critical data."The same examination also found that half of those British businesses didn't back up their data once a day, a major fail-safe against such attacks.It's necessary to keep Bitcoin on hand — which currently exchanges for about $1,800 per unit — because government agencies don't necessarily have a fix for institutions once hackers have taken hold of their files, and its cybercriminals' preferred payment method."Part of the everyday ransomware demand is Bitcoin, because it's easy to get and it's the currency of choice for the criminal underground," said cyber insurer Bob Wice, Beazley Group's U.S.leader of technology, media and business services.Bitcoin can be stored in a digital wallets online or on a user's computer.Cybercriminals prefer Bitcoin as payment because of their near-anonymous nature.

Any transaction can be seen via the currency's open ledger, but names don't have to be attached.It also requires no government or banking intermediary, and it works as simply as a file transfer between two people or organizations.They're also extremely valuable, and volatile, as their worth has grown nearly 900 percent over the past two years, according to anti-money laundering software company Chainalysis.So far, WannaCry ransoms have grossed a little more $80,000, Chainalysis reported.That's not a huge amount considering the malware's far reach.Also, most of the money was grossed via individual transactions, which means large companies likely didn't find paying the ransom necessary.Nevertheless, many companies still feel compelled to keep Bitcoin on hand in case of future ransomware attacks."I've often heard expressed that intelligence agencies and law enforcement act on a reactive basis," said Dr. Simon Moores, Britain's former technology ambassador and chairman of the annual international e-Crime Congress.

"Once it's into your system, there's not much they can do about it."Related: Ransomware Attack: This Is the Total Paid and How the Virus Spread Moores explained that companies have accepted this type of hacking as reality, according to Citrix's findings.Although he declined to name companies, he said numerous organizations had told him privately that they keep electronic cash on hand in case of attack.At times, they don't have another option."It's all well and good to catch up to the actors and prosecute them, but that doesn't help you if you happen to be a financial institution or a business and data is mission critical," Moores told NBC News.And it's become more and more necessary as the rate of these malware attacks continues to increase.According to Beazley Group, the number of ransomware assaults quadrupled in 2016.It projects that attacks will double in 2017 — already noting a 35 percent uptick after the first financial quarter.That increase didn't account for the most recent cyberattack.