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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
A rash of ransomware attacks this week targeted hospitals in the U.S. and Australia. The cyberattacks froze the computer systems of several medical facilities, to the point where they needed to turn away new patients and even cancel surgery appointments.
A ransomware attack, reported on Tuesday, impacts the DCH Health System, a regional hospital and medical complex located in Alabama, and left three satellite hospitals turning away patients. A separate attack disclosed on Monday impacted several regional hospitals in Victoria, Australia. There is no indication that the ransomware attacks are connected.
The DCH Health System, which announced it was hit by ransomware on Tuesday, is a government subdivision that operates a community-owned healthcare system in Alabama, consisting of DCH Regional Medical Center, Northport Medical Center and Fayette Medical Center. These facilities are owned by the public, and the system is operated on behalf of the public by the DCH Health System board of directors.
The three regional hospitals, located in Tuscaloosa, Fayette and Northport, are "closed to all but the most critical new patients," according to a Tuesday release. The release said that cybercriminals are limiting the hospitals' abilities to use their computer systems in exchange for an "as-yet unknown payment."
"Our hospitals have implemented our emergency procedures to ensure safe and efficient operations in the event technology dependent on computers is not available," according to the release. "That said, we feel it is in the best interest of patient safety that DCH Regional Medical Center, Northport Medical Center and Fayette Medical Center are closed to all but the most critical new patients. Our staff is caring for the patients who are currently in the hospital, and we have no plans to transfer current patients."
The hospitals said that local ambulances have been instructed to take patients to other hospitals if at all possible. Patients who come to their emergency departments may be transferred to another hospital when they are stabilized, representatives stated.
No further information is currently available. Threatpost has reached out to DCH about how and when the attack started and which specific operations are impacted.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 02 2019, @01:01PM (3 children)
By phone, horse-drawn cart or avian carrier. You really think it's currently done over the Internet?
And why would he need Internet access for that? Regardless of what big telecom wants you to believe about G5, intranet really is a thing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 02 2019, @01:20PM (1 child)
And why would he need Internet access for that? Regardless of what big telecom wants you to believe about G5, intranet really is a thing.
Ok, so the hospital has a private network and also a public one, or everybody brings their own public one.
Now we extend that private network into the doctor's office.
Does he get a separate computer for each hospital he goes to?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 02 2019, @02:30PM
Is there any reason why he should not get a separate machine for each hospital he works in? I mean - he can afford it, right? Ten separate laptops is a smaller investment than having his own X-ray machine, isn't it? And, yes, even small-town doctors can afford their own X-ray, and ultrasound, right in the office.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hendrikboom on Wednesday October 02 2019, @01:56PM
Here in Montreal, most clinics in the city have access to the hospital medical data bases so that they really know what happened to their patients there. That's also where the results of blood tests and the like are posted. Yes, they use the internet for that. They get essential information *much* faster than before they had this kind of access.
Though two days ago there was a computer malfunction that shut down the hospital's clinics and shut down the intake at the emergency room for an afternoon -- the first I've heard of. The hospital IT staff say it was not an internet attack.
They are still investigating, of course.
-- hendrik