French minister: Mafia-type gangs likely behind cyber-attacks on hospitals

Mafia-type organizations, often based in eastern Europe, are likely to have been behind a recent wave of cyberattacks on French hospitals, rather than foreign powers, said the French minister for digital technology Cedric O on Thursday.

"Concerning the hospitals, in all likelihood, it is not foreign powers, but rather Mafia-type organizations - often situated in eastern countries but not just limited to there - who are looking for money," Cedric O told France 2 television.

Cedric O added that the situation at French hospitals had stabilized following the cyberattacks earlier this year, but hospitals at Dax and Villefranche-sur-Saône were still working with pen and paper after their computer systems were hit.