US hospitals struck by ransomware

On August 15, Memorial Health System was targeted by threat actors with ransomware. The attack disrupted the IT systems at nearly all the health system’s 64 clinics and three hospitals. 

By the end of the day, the hospitals were forced to divert patients to other healthcare providers and increased the work time for care. Additionally, the attack resulted in the cancellation of radiology examinations and non-urgent operations as staff were unable to access IT systems. 

In a statement, Memorial Health System said it was working with national cybersecurity experts to resolve the attack. 

“We have reached a negotiated solution and are beginning the process that will restore operations as quickly and as safely as possible. We are following a deliberate, systematic approach to bring systems back online securely and in a manner that prioritizes our ability to provide patient care. This could happen as early as Sunday,” says Memorial Health System president and CEO Scott Cantley. “As we conduct our IT remediation work, our security experts have been monitoring and have not noted any indication that any patient or employee data has been publicly released or disclosed,” he said.