UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Change Healthcare had to "start over" with its computer systems following a ransomware attack in February, Cyberscoop reported Sept. 19.
"When I say start over, I really, truly mean start over," Steven Martin, UnitedHealth Group's chief information security officer said at the Washington, D.C.-based Mandiant Worldwide Information Security Exchange. "The only thing that we kept from the old environment into the new environment was the cables. New routers, new switches, new compute infrastructure, deployed everything from a safe environment, truly started over. I felt like that was the only way that we could really ensure that we ended up with something that we could stand behind for the healthcare space, because it's what it deserved."
Mr. Martin mentioned that his team has been working on repairs since February, and some of the efforts are still ongoing.
"We're almost complete with the restoration process, but we worked for months — particularly in those early days, incredibly long hours — to restore those services," he said.
The Feb. 21 cyberattack on Change Healthcare crippled financial operations for hospitals, insurers, pharmacies and medical groups nationwide. In July, the organization began sending out breach notification letters to individuals affected by the attack.