Ransomware Attack On Major Healthcare System Leaves Patients in the Dark

A recent ransomware attack on CommonSpirit Health, the second-largest nonprofit health system in the U.S., with 142 hospitals in 21 states, left IT locked, delayed surgeries and caused widespread disruptions in patient care.

Landwebs Landwebs
Oct 19, 2022 - 07:00
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Ransomware Attack On Major Healthcare System Leaves Patients in the Dark

A recent ransomware attack on CommonSpirit Health, the second-largest nonprofit health system in the U.S., with 142 hospitals in 21 states, left IT locked, delayed surgeries and caused widespread disruptions in patient care, reports Tina Reed for Axios.

The damage highlighted just how much risk there is for patients who, in this case, were left in the dark about what sort of potential disruptions this has caused to certain services or procedures and have no idea the extent their personal information might have been stolen.

Health systems, which are immensely complex and depend on easily-fractured supply chains, remain uniquely vulnerable to threats. They also suffer from a lack of cybersecurity and enforcement, despite literally having lives on the line.

At least 68 healthcare providers in the U.S. were impacted by ransomware in 2021, including multiple hospitals and multi-hospital health systems with a total of 1,203 sites between them. In 2021, 45 million individuals were affected by healthcare attacks, up from 34 million in 2020.

Additional reading: Hospitals Face Deadly Ransomware Attacks, July 14, 2022, The Crime Report.

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