Ransomware hits AXA units in Asia, hurts Ireland healthcare

PARIS — Cybercriminals have hit four Asian subsidiaries of the Paris-based insurance company AXA with a ransomware attack, impacting operations in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Philippines, the insurer said.

The criminals claimed to have stolen 3 terabytes of data including medical records and communications with doctors and hospitals.

In Ireland, meanwhile, the national healthcare system struggled to restore IT systems that were all but paralyzed by a cyberattack last week by a different Russian-speaking ransomware group. That group is demanding $20 million, according the ransom negotiation page on its darknet site, which The Associated Press viewed.

The gang threatened Monday to “start publishing and selling your private information very soon.”

The Irish government’s decision not to pay the criminals resulted in hospitals losing access to patient records — and resorting…