Reading Room
Indiana health system diverts ambulances, reverts to paper records amid ransomware attack
Becker’s Health IT, October 6, 2021
Hackers are demanding ransom from Johnson Memorial Hospital as the Franklin, Ind.-based health system grapples with an ongoing cyberattack, according to an Oct. 5 WTHR 13 report.
The health system has reverted to using paper and pen after the ransomware attack took its computer systems offline.
Adopt NIST cybersecurity standards, health care leader urges
SC Media, October 5, 2021
At a basic level, the health care sector is a human-focused business with highly advanced technologies and a public expectation to drive innovation — often within stringent resources. Despite a tremendous amount of endpoints and advanced technologies, providers must protect themselves using The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Security Rule.
Johns Hopkins CISO: Complexity of health care requires ‘adversarial security’ model
SC Media, October 4, 2021
High-profile ransomware attacks left health care in the spotlight in the last year as a vertical that struggles to manage its security posture amid dire circumstances. But Darren Lacey, chief information security officer and director of IT compliance for Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine sees it a bit differently.
Cyberattack drives Johnson Memorial into EHR downtime procedures
SC Media, October 4, 2021
Johnson Memorial Health is currently operating under electronic health record downtime procedures, after a cyberattack struck its computer network on Oct. 2. The health system operates a number of primary care sites, specialist offices, and other facilities across three Indiana counties.
Ransomware attacks put availability of medical devices at risk: FDA cyber chief
Med Tech Dive, October 1, 2021
- Ransomware attacks on healthcare facility networks are causing medical device “outages” that put patient lives at risk.
- “You can’t have a safe and effective medical device if it’s unavailable” due to ransomware. “Nation states and organized crime — real threat actors — are causing harm, damaging the safety and effectiveness of medical devices.”
- Assessment comes as The Wall Street Journal reported the first alleged death in a hospital attributed to ransomware.
Infant Fatality Could Be First Recorded Ransomware Death
Info Security Magazine, October 1, 2021
A tragic case making its way through the courts in the US could prove to be the first recorded death due to ransomware.
Bad Actors Target Small Clinics With Healthcare Ransomware Attacks
Health IT Security, September 30, 2021
Cybercriminals continue to target small healthcare facilities with ransomware attacks, causing EHR downtime and care disruptions.
Indiana hospital suspends IT systems in response to ongoing cyberattack
SC Media, September 30, 2021
Late Wednesday night, Schneck Medical Center in Indiana was hit with a cyberattack that impacted operations, leading the security team to suspend access to all IT applications across the hospital network, according to a posting on the hospital’s website.
The latest posting shows the attack is causing intermittent issues with the phone systems. Meanwhile, patients are reporting access issues on the hospital’s social media page. The provider’s website remains online.
Ongoing ransomware, data theft, leaks pummel health care organizations
SC Media, September 28, 2021
Ransomware attacks and data theft are continuing to prove problematic for the health care sector, leading to a number of breach notices reported to the Department of Health and Human Services and dark web postings of stolen health information.
United Health Centers ransomware attack claimed by Vice Society
Bleeping Computer, September 24, 2021
California-based United Health Centers suffered a ransomware attack that reportedly disrupted all of their locations and resulted in patient data theft. United Health Centers is a health care provider in California with twenty-one community health centers servicing Fresno, Kings, and Tulare counties.