Emotet: The world's most dangerous malware botnet was just disrupted by a major police operation

Europol and FBI among agencies that have taken control of the botnet infrastructure used by cybercriminals behind some of the most prolific malware and ransomware attacks. A week of action by law enforcement agencies around the world gained control of Emotet's infrastructure of hundreds of servers around the world and disrupted it from the inside.

Machines infected by Emotet are now directed to infrastructure controlled by law enforcement, meaning cyber criminals can no longer exploit machines compromised and the malware can no longer spread to new targets, something which will cause significant disruption to cyber-criminal operations.

How Hackers Exploit Brand Names 

The world's most prolific and dangerous malware botnet has been taken down following a global law enforcement operation that was two years in the planning.

Europol, the FBI, the UK's National Crime Agency, and others coordinated action which has resulted in investigators taking control of the infrastructure controlling Emotet in one of the most significant disruptions of cyber-criminal operations in recent years.

Emotet first emerged as a banking trojan in 2014 but evolved into one of the most powerful forms of malware used by cybercriminals.

Emotet establishes a backdoor onto Windows computer systems via automated phishing emails that distribute Word documents compromised with malware. Subjects of emails and documents in Emotet campaigns are regularly altered to provide the best chance of luring victims into opening emails and installing malware – regular themes include invoices, shipping notices, and information about COVID-19.

Those behind the Emotet lease their army of infected machines out to other cybercriminals as a gateway for additional malware attacks, including remote access tools (RATs) and ransomware.

It resulted in Emotet becoming what Europol describes as "the world's most dangerous malware" and "one of the most significant botnets of the past decade", with operations like Ryuk ransomware and TrickBot banking trojan hiring access to machines compromised by Emotet in order to install their own malware.

Emotet allowed hackers and cybercriminals to distribute their own brand of malware and/or viruses using leased software to distribute their bits of code to victims around the world. One group alone, Ryuk earned over 150 million dollars and was able to hide their theft using cryptocurrency. Most of the Ryuk gang's "earnings" are being cashed out through accounts at crypto-exchanges Binance and Huobi. The victim(s) are instructed to make payment using a cryptocurrency such as ethereum or bitcoin.

Who runs some security software companies?  Not surprisingly former convicted are sent to prison and given a sentence which may include a requirement of working for the FBI or some other security firm. Such is the story of Kevin Mitnick. (hire a criminal to catch a criminal)

Emotet:  

Telehealth Survey Results: Technology Concerns Stand Out As Key Issues Slowing Telehealth Adoption | Healthcare IT Today

The past year, 2020 saw explosive growth in the use of telemedicine. Health providers adapted quickly to it's use, despite misgivings about the lack of physical examination and the healing aspects of 'touch therapy'

According to the telehealth survey, there still remain a number of obstacles to widespread, long-term adoption of telehealth. One of them remains physicians’ concerns that telehealth doesn’t allow doctors to make physical contact with patients or establish a more-intimate personal rapport.

“Not having the provider complete an actual physical exam in person [remains a problem],” one respondent noted. Telehealth is “impersonal,” another respondent said. “The doctor cannot read body language nor listen to breathe sounds.” Side Note: John has an interview coming out shortly about a digital stethoscope where you can listen to breathe sounds remotely.

The technology aspects were somewhat ready, yet many providers and patients seemed dissatisfied with telehealth.

One person who responded suggested that telehealth left patients cold as well. “It undermines trust because many think seeing a physician in person is the only way to get medical treatment,” they said. Yet another echoed this point: “People want a hands-on touch from their provider,” they said.

But perhaps the most common concern cited by survey respondents was the nature of the technology itself. At times, both doctors and patients struggle to make telehealth tech work, respondents said.

For one thing, several respondents said that it’s proving to be awkward for providers to integrate telehealth technology with their existing technology infrastructure.  Telehealth needs to be easy to use and fit into existing workflows, but that’s often not the case.

For example, one respondent noted that they faced problems with connectivity, broadband, and the ability to triage patients.  Others are running into some nasty technical problems. “We need reliable, simple technology,” one survey respondent said. “One telehealth visit took several hours over two days to orchestrate correctly.”

Another problem cited by those answering the survey was challenges with getting paid. Several noted that reimbursement for telehealthcare is far from universal.  Not only that, telehealth reimbursement structures are actually complicated, as my colleague John Lynn noted in a separate piece, given that such care can include live video conferencing, store-and-forward asynchronous care, remote patient monitoring, and mobile health services.

Then, there’s the issue of pushing telehealth data into other provider systems. If they’re using a standalone system, providers need to see that the data gets integrated into their EHR, which can of course be tougher than it sounds.

The bottom line is that both patients and providers still have a lot of learning to do before they’re comfortable with the telehealth process. For telehealth adoption to succeed,  another respondent said, “patients and providers need to adjust to the new normal.”

Was the survey biased?

Of course, on any survey, the majority of those motivated to respond are those who love the technology or those that hate it.  It’s certainly possible that our survey attracted those that had issued more than those that had a great experience or even an average experience.  However, it’s worth noting the problems that many on our survey are having with telehealth.

New research conducted by Healthcare IT Today suggests that the top barriers to wider, more stable adoption of telehealth may be patient and doctor discomfort with the technology. While telehealth technology companies have worked to make such systems simple enough for everyone to use, it seems like there’s still work to do. According to the […]

Telehealth Survey Results: Technology Concerns Stand Out As Key Issues Slowing Telehealth Adoption | Healthcare IT Today: New research conducted by Healthcare IT Today suggests that the top barriers to wider, more stable adoption of telehealth may be patient and doctor discomfort with the technology. While telehealth technology companies have worked to make such systems simple enough for everyone to use, it seems like there’s still work to do. According to the […]

LEARN MORE ABOUT MACHINE LEARNING

Most medical practices are attempting to offload many tasks using machine learning (A.I. ) These are software tools that 'learn' using algorithms.

The software ' learns ' from each encounter, building its knowledge base, much like human practitioners.  Prior to being used it must be 'trained' (not unlike practitioners) A good source for the clinician is. Caption Health

Let's start with a brief video about using A.I. for COVID 19

Artificial intelligence is being applied to evaluating cardiac ultrasound,, pulmonary scans, and coordinating care for ICU patients.  This assisted in caring for over 50 patients in the Weil. Cornell ICU. This allowed novice caregivers with little or no experience to care for ER and ICU patients with COVID 19. It also emphasized the utility of fewer views to make a diagnosis using AI trained for ultrasound evaluation.

Other clinical settings for the use of U/S assisted SAI to include preoperative evaluations by anesthesiologists, who are otherwise novice or even incompetent in reading cardiac ultrasound.

POCUS in the Community Hospital

Leveraging the Capabilities of AI in a Neurocritical Care Unit

POCUS in the era of Value-Based Care in an Outpatient setting using Caption by a novice ultrasound fellow.

In summary, the use of POCUS allows for better value-based care delivering more care for the same or fewer dollars, efficiency and providing a uniform standard of care in the emergency department, critical care unit, preoperative anesthesia evaluation, remote clinical settings, and when fully trained ultrasound technicians or radiologists are not available.

The Post Covid19 Era, or How to get it done...where are we headed, and the End Game

2020 has proven to be a unicorn for medical information technology, with telehealth the leading use for health care.   However, it will not be the only unicorn in this space.

We spend a great deal of time, and I do mean a great deal of time exploring the digital health space. It has become my latest passion, and I have had several in my life.  It started with amateur radio as a pre-adolescent somewhat autistic kid, graduating to biochemistry and genetics and went full tilt with medicine and ophthalmology.  That phase lasted over 40 years when I began to pursue the evolving changes in medical records.  

Along the way, my vision coincided with some very powerful people in Washington, D.C. My vision was prescient in health information interoperability at a time when no one knew what a RHIO, or HIE does. 

A surefire way to fail is to not know where you are going.  Take Elon Musk as a great example. Even as a young adolescent his plan was to go to Mars.  This was not a dream for Elon....it was going to be a fact.  As any engineer will tell you you must work the problem, the next step on your ladder to the top floor.  Musk has the ability to analyze what are the basic problems.  Not only did he want to go to Mars, but he also wanted to take a lot of people with him.

He was never mired down in corporate or government bureaucracy. He quickly saw that space travel was too expensive and wasteful.  He viewed space vehicles as aircraft that took off to their destination, landed, and did the same thing over and over.  The vehicles were not discarded after one journey and could be refueled with minimal refurbishment.

His early success with SpaceX depended upon. using highly reliable rocket motors that already had a good track record for reliability. An outgrowth of the Russian space program the Raptor engine powers the 'water tower rocket

Raptor Assembly Line

The early launch failures were not due to engine failure. Now his attention has turned to use simple proven materials such as stainless steel fabrication, which can easily be assembled by skilled welders and steelworkers.  His new starship series resembles no more than a tall water tower with small fins. Starship can be enlarged easily by adding on another layer of rings.  He does not use expensive lightweight carbon structures such as those in new airplanes.  He plans to overcome weight restrictions using sheer overwhelming 'firepower'

The first time I saw Bolsa Chica Spaceport I was stunned.   Then I saw Elon's wisdom.  He bought (or leased) a remote island off the coast of southern Texas.  It had easy access to navigable water for transportation of rocket vehicles if needed. The location also provided a safety corridor for rockets, should one crash or explode. Elon probably bought the land under an assumed name for 'dirt cheap'. He began manufacturing rockets under the open sky and eventually put up semi-portable canvas covers. He used this same technology in Hawthorne, California, when he started Tesla and found that the existing structures were inadequate and would be too expensive to rehabilitate for, is robotic manufacturing.

Where are you in the Covid 19-time warp?  Have you formulated your plan for Covid 20-21? In the next five years, most of what we have adopted will have become routine.  Where do you see yourself in ten or fifteen years?  Are you the type that will sit and let progress sweep you along, or are you like many who will determine your fate?

You are not alone, most physicians are busy enough and just make it through the day.  There is little time for creative thought.  If you want help, call on Digital Health Space.  There is no obligation other than to be sincere and open to share your hidden thoughts and fears.  

In the next several month Digital Health Space will be partnering with other visionaries, such as 

Podium

Text me at 951-217-9629 to make an appointment