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The Cyberattack on Change Healthcare: Lessons for Financial Stability

Authors: Arthur Fliegelman, Daniel Stemp

Cyberattacks are a growing threat to businesses that rely heavily on technology for their operations, like those in the U.S. financial system. Just a brief outage of key services could have wide-ranging effects. While the financial system's cyber defenses have been strong to date, lessons learned from recent attacks in other sectors can inform improvements.

In a new OFR Brief, “The Cyberattack on Change Healthcare: Lessons for Financial Stability,” authors Arthur Fliegelman and Daniel Stemp discuss the February 2024 cyberattack on Change Healthcare that caused its operations to cease abruptly. Change’s closure disrupted critical operations and payment flows across the entire healthcare sector. To prevent further financial distress, Change’s parent and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services activated emergency funding facilities to support stricken providers.

Cyberattacks can disrupt liquidity in any industry. The authors explain how having a diverse set of vendors and operational resiliency can help inform cybersecurity strategies for systemically important firms within the financial system to prevent such an outage. As the financial system becomes more reliant on technology, the risk of a similarly disruptive outage becomes greater.