On May 8, Ascension, a prominent healthcare provider, announced disruptions to its clinical operations as a result of a suspected cybersecurity breach. The organization recommended that their business partners temporarily disconnect from their systems out of caution. Ascension noted that they were currently investigating the issue following the detection of abnormal behavior within certain select technology network systems. Some systems were experiencing interruptions while the extent and duration of the disruptions were being determined. Ascension stated that they had taken measures to guarantee that patient care delivery remained secure and minimally affected. They further revealed that they had enlisted the services of Mandiant, a third-party specialist, to aid with the investigation and repair efforts, and had alerted relevant authorities. Ascension, established as a Catholic nonprofit in 1999, has approximately 134,000 employees, 35,000 affiliated healthcare providers, and 140 medical facilities spread throughout 19 states and the District of Columbia. (Edited by Pooja Desai.)
Earlier this year, UnitedHealth, the largest health insurance company in America, reported a significant hack of its technological infrastructure, which caused substantial disruptions to payment processing for physicians and healthcare establishments. This cyberattack was deemed one of the most severe incidents ever to impact the healthcare industry in the United States. As a result of the incident, Ascension issued a similar warning to its business partners, urging them to temporarily halt connectivity with their environment. Ascension’s statement highlighted the continued investigation into the matter and the interruption of access to some systems during the assessment process. These actions were being carried out to minimize the potential consequences of the disruption, the organization explained.
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