For the past 48 hours, one of the largest private American health systems, Ascension, has been partially paralyzed. The group, at the head of 140 hospitals, suffered a large-scale cyberattack on May 8.
Coincidence, or not, of the calendar, Ascension was the victim of a very significant computer attack, Wednesday May 8, 2024, the eve of the Christian holiday of the same name. Ascension is one of the leading Catholic health systems in the United States, with a network of 35,000 providers, 140 hospitals and 40 senior living facilities, in addition to 134,000 employees and $27 billion in revenue. annual business. The organization quickly communicated the details of the attack, which partially paralyzed it.
Healthcare system hit by cybercriminals on Ascension Eve
As of Thursday May 9, Ascension Day, the eponymous behemoth explains having detected “ an unusual activity » in its computer system, quickly identified as a cyberattack. Since then, health system teams and American authorities have been working, accompanied by external companies, to both contain and restore the systems, proceeding step by step.
Because the non-profit organization, which is headquartered in Saint-Louis, Missouri, has no fewer than 25,000 hospital beds, spread across 19 states across the country.
As was the case very recently in Cannes, France, Ascension facilities were forced to divert many ambulances to other hospitals for at least 24 hours. But the consequences don’t stop there.
Many operations postponed, cyber attack not yet claimed
Ascension also had to postpone many services, including appointments, operations and simple tests. The less critical and urgent ones have been suspended until the services of the various hospitals affected can restart. Many emergencies are also diverted to other establishments.
So that each patient can receive their treatment correctly, Ascension asked each of them to bring paper documents on which their symptoms, their list of current medications and even prescription numbers are recorded, so that hospital staff can redirect them to pharmacies.
The in-house MyChart app, which allows patients to view their medical records and communicate with different providers, was also not available.
It is currently unknown whether the organization was the victim of ransomware or whether it paid a ransom. The computer attack has not yet been claimed.
Source : Ascent
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