The health care system has currently suspended certain access to potential portals as well as other applications that could be related to the operations over at the Scripps facilities.The current Scripps Health is now sitting in the aftermath of a particular cyberattack that has reportedly disrupted certain patient portals and have even forced employees to result to offline chart systems.
Scripps Health Attacked: Malware?
Aside from employees now resulting in the use of offline chart systems, a number of patient appointments have then been rescheduled. According to the story by DarkReading, the health care system then confirmed that their servers had actually been attacked overnight.
NBC San Diego had reported the incident although officials left out how the whole incident occured or even which particular system had actually been affected. When the question as to whether or not the attack had involved the use of a ransomware was asked, a Scripps person had declined to give a comment.
Email Servers Down
Reports actually indicate that the attack had even affected Scripps email servers. Representatives reportedly said on Sunday that they had suspended access to the patient portals as well as other applications that were related to the whole operations at the health care facilities.
An official statement coming from the organization reportedly states that the facilities which include emergency departments, hospitals, and other urgent care centers, the Scripps HealthExpress locations, and some other outpatient facilities are reportedly open. Scripps Health, as of the moment, is certainly not alone.
Technology Reliance due to COVID-19
The hospitals and the healthcare organizations have now become the primary targets of cyberattacks over the course of the past year as they now navigate the critical challenges of operating especially through the whole COVID-19 pandemic. Attacks directly against the healthcare entities had reportedly increased by a whopping 45% throughout last year. This is double the amount in other different industries in the very same time frame.
One of the most notable changes that the COVID-19 pandemic has fast-tracked was the adaptation to technology and reliance on the health system. With more and more people using technology, hackers have started becoming more tenacious fishing out new potential victims to steal, ransom, or sometimes just sabotage.
Read Also: LA Hospital Hit By Ransomware Pays Hackers $17,000: Is It The Right Choice?
Cybercriminals Targetting Health Systems
With the heavy reliance on the health care systems, cybercriminals are extending their efforts in disrupting hospitals and the other health related establishments. According to an article by BBC, even state sponsored hackers like those from North Korea attempted to steal the actual COVID-19 vaccine technology coming from the US pharmaceutical company known as Pfizer. This was according to South Korean intelligence officials.
It was reportedly unknown as to how much or if any data was stolen at all. The South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency actually privately briefed lawmakers regarding the alleged attacks according to the reports by a local news agency known as Yonhap. Aside from just COVID-19 vaccines, other parts of the health sector are being targeted as well.
Related Article: Hackers Hold Hollywood Hospital’s Computer System Hostage, Demand $3.6 Million As Patients Transferred
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Written by Urian B.
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