Georgia man charged for hacking a local medical center

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ATLANTA — Vikas Singla, 45, of Marietta, has been charged for hacking into the Gwinnett Medical Center's network in 2018. The federal grand jury indicted Singla on June 8, 2021.

Sangla was the Chief Operating Officer of a metro Atlanta network security company. He allegedly disrupted the center's phone service, obtained information from its digitizing device and obstructed its network printer service, among other things.

He also allegedly used the information he obtained for personal financial gain. He was charged with 17 counts of intentional damage to the company’s protected computer and one count of mining information from it.

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

Currently, the FBI is investigating the case, and the prosecution is handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Samir Kaushal and Trial Attorney Brian Mund of the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.

For further information about the case, contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.

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