UnitedHealth CEO tells lawmakers the company paid hackers a $22 million ransom
UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty confirmed for the first time that the company paid a $22 million ransom to hackers who breached its subsidiary Change Healthcare and caused widespread fallout across the health-care sector. Witty’s comments were made during a Wednesday hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.
UnitedHealth told CNBC in April that it paid a ransom to try and protect patient data. Earlier reports had discovered a $22 million transfer on Bitcoin’s blockchain, but the company had not confirmed the figure until now.
“The decision to pay a ransom was mine,” Witty said. “This was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
UnitedHealth is one of the largest companies in the world, with a roughly $450 billion market cap. Its business unit Optum — which provides care to 103 million customers — and Change Healthcare — which touches one in three patient records — merged in 2022.
