US hospital network hit with ransomware attack

A major US hospital network, Prospect Medical Holdings, has been the victim of a ransomware-based cyber attack.

The cyber attack has caused outages across the company’s network, which is responsible for operating 16 hospitals in California, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, in addition to 166 outpatient centers and clinics.

The network issues were first reported on August 3. This caused issues at Prospect Medical Holdings’ hospitals across the US, leading to some hospitals having to stop operations and divert patients to other facilities.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the cyber attack, which was confirmed to be ransomware related. As the investigation is ongoing, there no further information regarding the cyber attack has been released.

A spokesperson for Prospect Medical Holdings said the company had “recently experienced a data security incident” that disrupted [its] operations”.

The spokesperson went on to say that once the cyber security incident was discovered, the company took its systems offline to prevent further damage.

The company said it has also launched an investigation into the cyber attack while “addressing the pressing needs of [its] patients as [the company] work[s] diligently to return to normal operations as quickly as possible”. 

Learn more about ransomware by reading Cyber Security Hub's article, The 9 most common types of malware (and some of the worst malware attacks in history).