FBI Investigating Cyberattack at Oracle

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is currently investigating a sophisticated cyberattack at technology giant Oracle, which has allegedly led to the theft of patient data from older Cerner servers.

According to a report by Bloomberg News, citing a person familiar with the matter, the FBI was informed about the breach earlier this month. It appears that hackers gained unauthorized access to Oracle's servers sometime after January 22 and copied sensitive patient data to an external location. The motive behind this cyberattack is believed to be extortionate in nature, targeting multiple medical providers in the United States.

Oracle had previously alerted some healthcare customers about the breach, stating that it occurred on older Cerner servers before the data was transferred to Oracle's cloud storage service. The company became aware of the incident around February 20, as per the report.

The Role of Cerner in the Breach

Oracle's acquisition of US-based healthcare IT company Cerner Corp for $28 billion in 2022 has significantly bolstered the company's presence in the electronic health record sector. As a result, Oracle now has a larger number of healthcare clients on its cloud platform.

The purchase also came with a substantial contract worth $16 billion with the US Department of Veterans Affairs. However, this deal has been marred by high-profile outages and intense scrutiny from lawmakers, adding to the complexity of the situation.

Concerns Over Patient Data Breach

It remains unclear how many patient records were compromised as a result of the breach or which healthcare providers were specifically targeted. The FBI's investigation is likely aimed at determining the full extent of the incident and identifying those responsible for the cyberattack.

The recent breach highlights the vulnerability of electronic health record systems to cyber threats. As the use of cloud-based services in healthcare continues to grow, it is essential for companies like Oracle to prioritize robust security measures to protect sensitive patient data.