SEDGWICK COUNTY —Authorities continue to work through a ransomware attack on the Ascension health system operating in Kansas and 18 other states across the U.S.
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The attack first reported in early May forced some of its 140 hospitals to divert ambulances, caused patients to postpone medical tests and blocked online access to patient records.
On Thursday, the hospital system reported,“We have made progress in our investigation and recovery with the help of third-party cybersecurity experts.
At this point, we now have evidence that indicates that the attackers were able to take files from a small number of file servers used by our associates primarily for daily and routine tasks. These servers represent seven of the approximately 25,000 servers across our network. Though we are still investigating, we believe some of those files may contain Protected Health Information (PHI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for certain individuals, although the specific data may differ from individual to individual.
We have also identified how the attacker gained access to our systems. An individual working in one of our facilities accidentally downloaded a malicious file that they thought was legitimate. We have no reason to believe this was anything but an honest mistake.
Importantly, we have no evidence that data was taken from our Electronic Health Records (EHR) and other clinical systems, where our full patient records are securely stored.
"Right now, we don’t know precisely what data was potentially affected and for which patients. In order to reach those conclusions, we need to conduct a full review of the files that may have been impacted and carefully analyze them."
"While we have started this process, it is a significant undertaking that will take time. In the meantime, to provide our patients and associates with the greatest peace of mind possible, we are offering complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to any Ascension patient or associate who requests it, free of charge, and regardless of whether we determine in the future that their data was actually involved in this incident."
"Individuals who wish to enroll in free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services should call our dedicated call center at 1-888-498-8066."
"We encourage all Ascension patients and staff who are concerned to take advantage of these services. We want to be clear, however, that this offer does not mean we have determined that any specific individual patient’s data has been compromised. Rather, it illustrates our desire to do everything possible to reassure our patients and associates, regardless of any impact to specific individuals’ data."
"We understand individuals may have questions about their data, including whether it was affected, but at this point we are not able to answer those questions on an individual basis. Once our data analysis is complete, however, we are committed to following all applicable laws and regulations to notify affected individuals and the appropriate regulatory bodies. To our patients, associates and the communities we serve, we regret any disruption or concern you may have experienced as a result of this incident.”