Top EU officials call out China for hospital cyberattacks

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday that she warned Chinese President Xi Jinping against hacking European hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have seen cyberattacks on hospitals and dedicated computing centers. Likewise we’ve seen a rise in online disinformation, and we pointed out clearly that this cannot be tolerated,” von der Leyen told reporters Monday.

Von der Leyen’s remarks were made following the European Union (EU)-China Summit that took place virtually on Monday, which came in the midst of international tensions over the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants in the summit included Xi, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, European Council President Charles Michel and EU High Representative Josep Borrell.

Hospitals around the world have become targets of cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular from ransomware attacks, or when the attacker locks up a network and demands payment to allow access again.

The second largest hospital in the Czech Republic was the victim of a cyberattack in March, while the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District in Illinois had its website taken down by hackers the same month.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI put out a joint alert last month warning that Chinese government-backed hackers were targeting U.S. groups involved in COVID-19 research.

INTERPOL, an international police organization, warned hospitals and other groups involved in fighting COVID-19 of ransomware threats in April, specifically that cyber criminals were preventing hospitals from accessing patient records until the ransom was paid.

Major health agencies have also been targeted by cyber criminals over the past few months, including the World Health Organization and the Department of Health and Human Services.