Man charged with cyberattack on Gwinnett Medical Center in Georgia

THE former chief operating officer of Securolytics, a network security company, was charged with allegedly conducting a cyberattack on Georgia-based Gwinnett Medical Center (GMC).

Vikas Singla, 45, of Marietta, Georgia, has allegedly disrupted phone service, obtained information from a digitizing device, and disrupted the network printer service of the Medical Center in 2018.

Singla was charged with 17 counts of intentional damage to a protected computer and one count of obtaining information from a protected computer.

According to the US Department of Justice press release, he conducted the cyberattack partially "for purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain" per the indictment.

“Cyberattacks that target important infrastructure, like healthcare, pose a serious threat to public health and safety,” said acting US Attorney Kurt R Erskine.

“In this case, Singla allegedly compromised Gwinnett Medical Center’s operations in part for his own personal gain.”

“Criminal disruptions of hospital computer networks can have tragic consequences,” said acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

“The department is committed to holding accountable those who endanger the lives of patients by damaging computers that are essential in the operation of our healthcare system.”

Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, said: “This cyberattack on a hospital not only could have had disastrous consequences but patient’s personal information was also compromised. The FBI and our law enforcement partners are determined to hold accountable, those who allegedly put people's health and safety at risk while driven by greed.”

Assistant US Attorney Samir Kaushal and Trial Attorney Brian Mund of the US Department of Justice, Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section are prosecuting the case, the statement added.