GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The chief operating officer of network security company has been indicted on an alleged cyberattack that targeted a Gwinnett County hospital.
It was in 2018 when federal prosecutors said Vikas Singla, 45, of Marietta, conducted the attack on Gwinnett Medical Center. The attack allegedly involved disrupting phone service, obtaining information from a digitizing device and disrupting network printer service.
Prosecutors alleged the attack was done, in part, for financial gain.
“Cyberattacks that target important infrastructure, like healthcare, pose a serious threat to public health and safety,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “In this case, Singla allegedly compromised Gwinnett Medical Center’s operations in part for his own personal gain.”
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Singla was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 8, 2021.
“This cyberattack on a hospital not only could have had disastrous consequences, but patient’s personal information was also compromised,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners are determined to hold accountable, those who allegedly put peoples health and safety at risk while driven by greed.”
Singla was charged with 17 counts of intentional damage to a protected computer and one count of obtaining information from a protected computer.
“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.”
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