Morning Headlines 9/13/17

Alleged Equifax hackers demand $2.6 million Bitcoin ransom

Equifax, which suffered a cyberattack that exposed 143 million social security numbers, is reportedly being asked to pay a $2.6 million ransom to prevent the stolen data from being deleted.

Tom Frieden’s New Venture Combines 2 Disparate Health Threats

Former CDC Director Tom Frieden announces that he has accepted a new job leading Resolve, a global health initiative backed with a $225 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The organization will work to prevent heart disease and stroke, and to increase worldwide preparedness for fighting epidemics.

Scripps and proton center part ways

Scripps Health announces that it will part ways from the now bankrupt California Proton Therapy Center. The treatment center began offering proton-based cancer treatment options in February 2014 in partnership with Scripps, but filed for bankruptcy in March 2017, noting in its filing that Scripps management was to blame for its lack of earnings.

Tim Cook on How Apple Champions the Environment, Education, and Health Care

In an interview with Fortune ahead of the iPhone 8 release, Apple CEO Tim Cook discusses the company’s future in healthcare, explaining “the focus has been on making products that can get reimbursed through the insurance companies, through Medicare, or through Medicaid. And so in some ways we bring a totally fresh view into this and say, ‘Forget all of that. What will help people?’”