A day after Brockton Hospital was targeted by hackers, the facility is still dealing with the aftermath.
And unfortunately, experts say these kinds of attacks are becoming more frequent.
Brockton Hospital said it is working around the problem to provide patient care with a few exceptions. Hospital owner and operator Signature Healthcare says the hospital’s information systems were hit, requiring alternate methods of documentation.
“It’s the perfect storm. They have a lot of personal information about us and so that information becomes very, very valuable to scammers,” explained Steve Weisman, a professor at Bentley University.
Inpatient and walk-in emergency services are still operational, but ambulances are being diverted. Chemotherapy treatments have been canceled, and the pharmacies are open for consultations but unable to fill prescriptions.
Surgeries and procedures are taking place as scheduled.
“We are working closely with third-party cybersecurity experts, as well as state and federal officials, to determine the source of this incident,” said Kim Walsh, Signature Healthcare’s chief operating officer. “Our care teams continue to provide high-quality care using established downtime procedures. We remain committed to serving our community throughout this process.”
“Everyone’s a target for ransomware actors and attacks have gone up by thousands just a few years ago to today.”
Cynthia Kaiser is with the Halcyon Ransomware Research Center and has investigated cyber crimes for the FBI.
“They know a hospital doesn’t want to endanger people’s lives. They know a hospital is worried about being able to give the right kind of care to patients and so they look at that and see easy money for them, which I think is just atrocious,” Kaiser said.
The hospital tells us they’re working to resolve the problem, but patients may experience delays. The investigation into the cyberattack remains ongoing and it’s not clear yet if any patient information was compromised. A timeline for a full restoration of the electronic systems is not available.
The cyberattack comes after the hospital was closed for a year and a half because of a fire.
