Ascension Health has disclosed that after detecting "unusual activity," that affected its clinical operations, the company contacted Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm, to investigate the cyberattack.
According to Ascension Health's official statement, the organization has processes in place to guarantee that patient care delivery remains safe and is affected as little as possible, and care staff are trained for precisely these kinds of disruptions.
The healthcare provider attested that the company's clinical activities have been interrupted and that it is still evaluating the extent and consequences of the disruption.
The nonprofit health system based in St. Louis, Ascension, is reportedly urging its business partners to cut off online connections to its system after a cyberattack on Wednesday disrupted its computer network and affected clinical operations on Thursday morning. Ascension hospitals are located in Michigan and across the United States.
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Ascension Disruption
According to three employees who want to remain anonymous for fear of losing their jobs, workers became aware of the computer network issues at about seven a.m. on Wednesday.
A physician in Ascension, Michigan, asserted that since the shutdown, they have been unable to obtain lab work, radiology or X-rays, medical records, or order placement.
On Wednesday night, a nurse informed reporters that Ascension hospitals continued to receive patients who needed life-saving care and were medically fragile via ambulance.
However, the computer network breakdown diverted more stable individuals who could be sent to other neighboring hospitals for treatment.
In a statement, Ascension pledged to abide by all applicable legal and regulatory obligations as well as to assist and advise anyone who could have been harmed by the disclosure of private information.
Cyberattacks on Healthcare
According to CBS, ransomware attacks have increased in frequency among US healthcare workers in recent years. Since February 1st, there have been 105 ransomware attacks worldwide, 77 of which have targeted the US healthcare industry, according to threat intelligence firm Cyble.
The disruptions on Ascension Health follow just a few days after Andrew Witty, the CEO of UnitedHealth, said before a Senate committee that following an earlier this year attack on one of the health insurance provider's subsidiaries, the business paid $22 million to the ransom hacker group Blackcat.
During a lengthy legislative hearing, Witty told senators that the company did not find out how many patients and medical staff were impacted by the February cyberattack on Change Healthcare.
Witty independently confirmed on Wednesday that UnitedHealth had paid BlackCat a $22 million Bitcoin ransom, based on prepared testimony provided before the court. Legislators revealed on Wednesday that some patient data remained compromised and accessible on the dark web even after the ransom was paid.
The primary focus of the discussion was how fraudulent actors gained entry to Change Healthcare, an alternative UnitedHealth subsidiary that the company acquired in October 2022.
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