A few week after it suffered a crippling cyberattack, Lurie Kids’s Hospital in Chicago continues to be struggling to revive its pc methods.
Whereas the hospital continues to be operational, the outage has made it tough for each sufferers and workers to entry prescription historical past and medical data, apart from making scheduling a problem too.
The hospital’s telephones, e mail, and different digital methods have been affected by the shutdown. “We acknowledge the frustration of not having readability on when this will probably be resolved”, it mentioned in an announcement it issued, including that investigation and efforts to resolve the problem are underway.
The Nature of the Cyberattack Stays Unclear
The hospital has but to share any particulars on the character of the cybersecurity incident. It additionally didn’t reveal whether or not the perpetrators have demanded a ransom for unblocking the methods.
Whereas Lurie first introduced the outage on third January, it wasn’t till the subsequent day that the hospital acknowledged that it was linked to a cybersecurity incident.
Dr. Andy Bernstein, a pediatrician at North Suburban Pediatrics reported that sufferers have been dealing with difficulties connecting with their specialists. Nonetheless, the hospital was in a position to resolve the problem by back-channeling it.
To assist restore connection for sufferers who at the moment are unable to contact the hospital by means of their cellphone quantity and different digital messaging methods, Lurie additionally established a name middle later final week.
There was a notable surge in cyberattacks towards healthcare infrastructure in recent times. In 2021, St. Margaret’s Well being in Spring Valley, Illinois had its pc methods affected for months on account of a cyberattack, which additionally prevented it from submitting insurance coverage claims.
One other Illinois hospital was shut down in June final 12 months, partly on account of a cyberattack. This was the primary time {that a} healthcare supplier reported a cybersecurity incident as a motive behind its closure.
In one other occasion, a cyberattack on Thanksgiving Day final 12 months diverted ambulances from East Texas hospitals. Moreover, hospitals in New Jersey, Oklahoma, and New Mexico have been additionally compelled to reroute ambulances.
It’s value noting that every one the hospitals affected within the cyberattack are owned, both partly or wholly, by Ardent Well being Companies. The Tennessee-based firm owns over two dozen hospitals throughout 5 completely different states, which suggests a cyberattack on it may pose widespread hurt and losses.
Specialists Warn Mother and father of Cybersecurity Threats
Whereas the hospital struggles to convey its methods again on-line, specialists have issued warnings for fogeys to stay vigilant. Moreover the direct inconvenience brought on by the cyberattack, a possible knowledge breach may also put delicate affected person info in danger.
Chicago-based Information Defenders Cybersecurity founder Cyrus Walker additionally revealed that officers engaged on resolving the problem are specializing in two issues.
Figuring out the hacker is now not a precedence – as a substitute, the first focus is to make sure that the menace actor now not has any management over the atmosphere.
The opposite precedence is to get the methods again up and operating once more in order that the hospital can resume offering essential healthcare companies to sufferers in want.
Specialists have, now and again, issued critical warnings towards cybercrimes. As an illustration, the FTC lately warned towards scanning unknown QR codes, which is more and more changing into a preferred mode of cyber assault.
The UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on the Nationwide Safety Technique launched a report warning that the nation’s transportation, water & power provide, telecommunications, and healthcare infrastructure are prone to a significant cyber assault, which might convey the nation to a standstill.
Such warnings solely go to focus on the rising menace of cyber-attacks, highlighting the necessity to keep vigilant.