Cyberattack keeps hospitals' computers offline for weeks
Key computer systems at hospitals and clinics in several states have yet to be turned back on more than two weeks after a cyberattack forced some emergency room shutdowns and ambulance diversions
MANCHESTER, Conn. — Key computer systems at hospitals and clinics in several states have yet to come back online more than two weeks after a cyberattack that forced some emergency room shutdowns and ambulance diversions.
Progress is being made “to recover critical systems and restore their integrity,” Prospect Medical Holdings said in a Friday statement. But the company, which runs 16 hospitals and dozens of other medical facilities in California, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Texas, could not say when operations might return to normal.
“We do not yet have a definitive timeline for how long it will be before all of our systems are restored,” spokeswoman Nina Kruse said in a text message. “The forensic investigation is still underway and we are working closely with law enforcement officials."
The recovery process can often take weeks, with hospitals in the meantime reverting to paper systems and people to monitor equipment, run records between departments and do other tasks usually handled electronically, John Riggi, the American Hospital Association’s national advisor for cybersecurity and risk, said at the time of the breach.
The attack, which was announced Aug. 3, had all the hallmarks of extortive ransomware but officials would neither confirm nor deny this. In such attacks, criminals steal sensitive data from targeted networks, activate encryption malware that paralyzes them and demand ransoms.
The FBI advises victims not to pay ransoms as there is no guarantee the stolen data won’t eventually be sold on dark
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