INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Ransomware Activity Targeting the Healthcare and Public Health Sector


Awareness - Phishing Attacks, Clicking on Links, Installation of Ransomware

October 30, 2020

UToledo Community; 

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a warning advisory Wednesday night regarding ransomware activity targeting healthcare facilities. On Twitter, CISA said "there is an imminent and increased cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers."

This alert is to bring your attention to phishing scams that may be in your emails. Phishing scams are attempts by someone to deceive you into disclosing personal information that they can use to gain access to our environment and potentially cause harm to our access and systems.  Clicking on links that look legitimate, can cause installation or sharing of files that may infect your computer with Ransomware (a malicious software that can freeze our systems).

 As a reminder, The University of Toledo will never request your username or password by email. Any unsolicited email demanding personal information or money should be viewed with skepticism.  Please visit www.utoledo.edu/it/security/phishing for more information on email phishing attempts. 

Please report any suspicious emails to emailabuse@utoledo.edu or call the IT helpdesk at 419.530.2400.

Last Updated: 6/27/22