Cyber attack on pharmaceutical distributor AEP
AEP GmbH, a wholesaler for pharmacies, was the victim of a cyberattack. As a result, some of the IT systems are encrypted.
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AEP GmbH was the victim of a targeted cyber attack on October 28, which led to the partial encryption of the company's IT systems. The company's own security systems detected the attack. The company provides information about this on its website.
AEP, based in Alzenau, Lower Franconia, said it had immediately taken the necessary protective measures and "disconnected all external connections and shut down all affected IT systems". The company, which according to DAZ has over 6000 pharmacy customers, is currently working at full speed on a solution with the help of external experts.
The extent of the attack is currently being investigated with the support of the experts. As a result, AEP is currently unavailable by telephone and can only be reached by e-mail to a very limited extent. AEP intends to keep its customers informed of the current status on a daily basis. So far, there is no indication that any data has been lost, a company spokesperson told Apotheke Adhoc.
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Pharmacies have been struggling with supply bottlenecks for years, and the"PharmaNet.Bund" portal provided by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, which also contains data from the federal government's drug and application database, currently listsaround 500 active ingredients for which there are supply problems. Cyber incidents or outages of relevant services and locations – including natural disasters such as Helene – are exacerbating the situation worldwide.
Healthcare is a popular target
The largest IT service provider for the US healthcare sector, Change Healthcare, had already paid several ransoms to the ransomware group AlphV following a cyberattack, but the patient data was still published. The attack had significant consequences for around a third of the US population. Patients had to make advance payments, sometimes for very high medication costs, which was not possible for everyone. As a result of another cyberattack, the US pharmaceutical wholesaler Cencora also paid a ransom, a record sum totaling 75 million US dollars.
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