"Passion Botnet Cyberattacks Hit Healthcare, as Actors Offer Threat as DDoS-As-A-Service"
The US and other NATO-affiliated nations are the focus of another Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack vector aimed at the healthcare industry. According to a new security advisory from Radware, the Passion Group, which has ties to Killnet and Anonymous Russia, has been delivering DDoS-as-a-service to pro-Russian hacktivists. The Radware analysis indicates the Passion botnet was likely used in the January 27 attacks detailed by the Department of Health and Human Services Cybersecurity Coordination Center, which also warned that the Killnet gang is continuing to target the industry with DDoS attacks. Recently, health and personal information associated with global health entities was released publicly on the Killnet list as a result of the recent DDoS attack. The Radware report cautions that the threat actors behind the Passion botnet are providing access to their botnet service via Telegram. Synmirai is a current merchant selling subscriptions to the Passion botnet for $30 per week of service or $1,440 for a year. This article continues to discuss the Passion botnet cyberattacks targeting healthcare entities.