The Genesis: A Call to Action
- The Catalyst: The September 22, 2023 Ransomware Attack on Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth)
- The Threat: The Medusa Ransomware Group exploited a vulnerability from an expired anti-virus license and a public-facing remote desktop protocol server.
- The Impact: Over 40% (more than 40M) of PhilHealth membership & employee data was breached and compromised.
- The Response: Engr. Jojo Nufable with the Metro Pacific Health (MPH Group – Cyber Security, Redundancy & Resiliency Technical Working Group (CSR2TWG) lead by Edwin Tambeling of AHMC took immediate, proactive steps to disconnect from the PhilHealth network, run incident rapid response and implement preventive controls demonstrating the critical need for healthcare industry collaboration in times of crisis. Mitigating and Remediation Action Plans were also shared to Arnel Distor of UPPGH, The Medical City Group & Association of HMO of the PH (AHMOP).
- The Realization: The incident highlighted that cooperation inspite of existing competition or coopetition in public & private organizations is essential for safeguarding the entire healthcare ecosystem. This was reinforced when Engr. Jojo Nufable joined the 2024 GovWare Healthcare Forum in SG, the premier Cyber Security event in the region and full support was given by the organizers.
