Rankiteo Logo
Rankiteo
Leader in Cyber Underwriting
Loading...
NEWRankiteo Cyber Underwriting Desktop - Score, price, and bind from your desktop
WindowsmacOSLinux
Download
Analyze » Watson Clinic LLP » WAT2232122112225

Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (WAT2232122112225)

The details regarding individual company incidents & reports gives you full view from every side.

Rankiteo Score Impact Analysis

Rankiteo Incident Impact-317
Company Score Before Incident760 / 1000
Company Score After Incident443 / 1000
Company LinkView Watson Clinic LLP Profile
INCIDENT NUMBERWAT2232122112225
Type of Cyber IncidentRansomware
ATTACK VECTORunauthorized network access (likely via exposed internet-facing systems)
DATA EXPOSEDTrue
INCIDENT DATE31/12/2023
STATUSongoing (settlement fairness hearing scheduled for December 8, 2026)

Key Highlights From The Incident Analysis

  • Timeline of Watson Clinic LLP's Ransomware and lateral movement inside company's environment.
  • Overview of affected data sets, including SSNs and PHI, and why they materially increase incident severity.
  • How Rankiteo’s incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score.
  • How this cyber incident impacts Watson Clinic LLP Rankiteo cyber scoring and cyber rating.
  • Rankiteo’s MITRE ATT&CK correlation analysis for this incident, with associated confidence level.

Full Incident Analysis Transcript

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Watson Clinic LLP breach identified under incident ID WAT2232122112225.

The analysis begins with a detailed overview of Watson Clinic LLP's information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/watson-clinic, the number of followers: 6163, the industry type: Medical Practices and the number of employees: 1157 employees

After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 760 and after the incident was 443 with a difference of -317 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.

In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on Watson Clinic LLP and their customers.

On 26 April 2024, Watson Clinic disclosed ransomware and data breach issues under the banner "Watson Clinic Ransomware Attack and Data Breach (January 2024)".

Watson Clinic, a Lakeland-based healthcare provider, suffered a ransomware attack in January 2024, exposing the personal and medical data of over 280,000 patients.

The disruption is felt across the environment, affecting limited portion of Watson Clinic's network, and exposing True, with nearly 280,278 records at risk, plus an estimated financial loss of $10 million (settlement fund).

In response, teams activated the incident response plan, and stakeholders are being briefed through website notice (April 26, 2024, without mentioning DonutLeaks), state Attorneys General notifications (August 2024) and patient emails (August 2024).

The case underscores how ongoing (settlement fairness hearing scheduled for December 8, 2026), with advisories going out to stakeholders covering settlement notices mailed to 280,278 patients and public website for claims (www.watsondatasettlement.com).

Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.

MITRE ATT&CK® Correlation Analysis

Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) with moderate to high confidence (85%), with evidence including unauthorized network access (likely via exposed internet-facing systems), and unencrypted storage of sensitive data in an internet-accessible environment and Valid Accounts (T1078) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating internet-accessible environment with unencrypted data (possible misuse of legitimate access). Under the Persistence tactic, the analysis identified Account Manipulation: Exchange Email Delegation (T1098.002) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating limited portion of Watson Clinics network (suggests lateral movement/persistence). Under the Privilege Escalation tactic, the analysis identified Valid Accounts: Default Accounts (T1078.001) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating unencrypted storage in internet-accessible environment (implies weak access controls). Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools (T1562.001) with moderate to high confidence (75%), supported by evidence indicating data was stored unencrypted (suggests security tool bypass or misconfiguration) and Indicator Removal: File Deletion (T1070.004) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating delayed public disclosure... omission of DonutLeaks threats (possible log tampering). Under the Credential Access tactic, the analysis identified Unsecured Credentials: Credentials In Files (T1552.001) with high confidence (90%), supported by evidence indicating unencrypted storage of sensitive data in an internet-accessible environment. Under the Discovery tactic, the analysis identified File and Directory Discovery (T1083) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating high-value targets such as patient PII/PHI, financial data, medical images (targeted discovery) and Network Service Discovery (T1046) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating limited portion of Watson Clinics network (implies internal reconnaissance). Under the Collection tactic, the analysis identified Data from Local System (T1005) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including pII, PHI, financial data, and medical images exfiltrated, and 280,278 patient records exposed and Data from Network Shared Drive (T1039) with moderate to high confidence (85%), supported by evidence indicating data stored unencrypted in an internet-accessible environment. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol: Exfiltration Over Unencrypted/Obfuscated Non-C2 Protocol (T1048.003) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including data exfiltration by DonutLeaks, and some images published on dark web and Automated Exfiltration: Traffic Duplication (T1020.001) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating 280,278 records exposed (suggests bulk exfiltration). Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Data Encrypted for Impact (T1486) with moderate to high confidence (80%), with evidence including ransomware attack by DonutLeaks, and threatened to publish stolen data (double extortion), Data Destruction (T1485) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating data sold on dark web (implies potential destruction of local copies), and Data Manipulation: Stored Data Manipulation (T1659) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating settlement for identity theft risks (suggests data may have been altered). Under the Lateral Movement tactic, the analysis identified Remote Services: Remote Desktop Protocol (T1021.001) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating limited portion of Watson Clinics network (implies internal movement). These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.

Sources & References