UMCG website shut down by pro-Russian hacker group Killnet | Tech

Killnet had announced that it would attack countries that help Ukraine in the war against Russia, including the Netherlands. A number of hospitals are targeted by the hacker group.

It is possible that more hospitals will be affected by cyber attacks. It is not yet clear whether that is actually the case, says a spokesperson for Z-CERT. This organization supports healthcare in the event of problems related to cybersecurity.

The UMCG site has been shut down with a DDoS attack. In such an attack, a website is flooded with data traffic. This often happens with hijacked devices. They are instructed by a hacker to visit a website at the same time.

“Fortunately, the consequences are not too bad,” said a spokesperson on Monday. “Care for patients can continue as usual. It is very annoying that people cannot look up information on our website. We also have to arrange some administrative matters differently.”

According to the UMCG spokesperson, it seems as if the DDoS attack is going in waves. “Sometimes it stops for a while. And then it starts again. At the moment it is quiet for a while, but we do not know whether it will really stop now.”

The website with patients’ medical records was not affected, according to the hospital. Patients can therefore still view their medical history, appointments and information about surgeries and medications.