Breach, Data Security, Malware

Experts discover history of malware infections on network of Community Health Systems

Following a major breach at Community Health Systems, security experts analyzed the hospital operator's network and discovered it had been plagued by malware infections for months.

Of the 12,500 IP addresses associated with the CHS network, 10 were linked to malicious bots, such as Kelihos, AsproxGameover Zeus and Conficker, according to a blog post by Jason Lewis, chief intelligence and collections officer at Lookingglass.

The bots tied to the network have the ability to perform SQL injection attacks, data exfiltration, click fraud and banking credential theft. Lewis believes there's even a probability an attack could access a virtual private network connected to “CHS headquarters.”

Patches for Conficker were made available shortly after its discovery in 2008, indicating that CHS systems have gone unpatched for years.

The infections detected were as early as January 2014 and as recent as Thursday.

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