Scripps ransomware attack affects at least 147,000 patients
Modern Healthcare Illustration / Getty Images
San Diego-based Scripps Health on Tuesday said it s notifying an estimated 147,267 patients that their data was stolen by hackers in last month s ransomware attack.
A ransomware attack on Scripps information systems in early May led the health system to take a portion of its network offline, disrupting access to the health system s electronic health record system and other applications for multiple weeks. Scripps ongoing investigation into the incident revealed that the hackers who accessed the network stole copies of some documents.
Documents stolen the breach contained health information and financial information of some patients, according to Scripps. Less than 2.5% nearly 3,700 of patients had Social Security or driver s license numbers stolen; Scripps will provide free credit monitoring and identity protection services to those patients.
A newly uncovered ransomware variant dubbed 'Epsilon Red' is targeting organizations in the US hospitality sector, with the threat actor successfully extorting
Health Care and the Building Cyber-Security Crisis
Christopher Holt
Last week the Government Accountability Office published a report on cyber insurance, finding that demand for cyber insurance is growing in the health care industry. At the same time, however, “insurer appetite and capacity for underwriting cyber risk has contracted…especially in certain high-risk industry sectors such as health care.”
Increasing cyberattacks on health care companies paired with growing demand for expanded telehealth services mean that health care policy conversations will increasingly need to focus on data security.
In late April, cancer treatments for some U.S. cancer patients were disrupted when the Swedish-based Elekta a company that provides precision cancer radiation treatment systems had to take down its cloud system amid a data breach. While details on the type of breach have not been made public, at least 42 U.S. cancer centers had to delay scheduled treatments while the cyberatta
As in war, details are being closely guarded. “The only people who know are the hackers and the victim. And they both don’t reveal more information than necessary to protect themselves, to not reveal their hand so that the other side doesn’t take advantage,” he said.
Christel Yardley/Stuff
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Waikato DHB chief executive Kevin Snee got a text about a cyber security issue. Day one: IT blackout, ‘absolute chaos’, DHB rules out a ransom The first chief executive Kevin Snee knew was from a text in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
May 17, 2021 10:25am
The Irish health service expects to spend tens of millions of euros rebuilding its IT systems as a result of the cyber attack, according to media reports. (Nawadoln/GettyImages)
Ireland’s health service shut down its IT systems Friday to protect them from a significant ransomware attack the government said was carried out by an international cybercrime gang.
The country s health service, called Health Service Executive (HSE), posted on Twitter Friday morning that it shut down its IT systems following the attack in order to assess the situation with its security partners.
Appointments and elective surgeries were canceled at several hospitals and Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the disruption could last for days, the Associated Press reported Friday.