A nursing home technology services provider called Virtual Care has been hit by a ransomwarethat has affected access to patient records. The Milwaukee, US-based company said that unknown hackers attacked systems using the “Ryuk” ransomware.
According to the company, the hackers are demanding $14 million to unlock the affected files. About 110 nursing homes across the country are unable to access their patient records, use the internet, pay their staff or order needed medications.
As reported by the owner of Virtual Care Provider, Karen Christianson, the attack has affected 80,000 computers and other facilities, such as Internet and email services, access to patient records, customer billing, telephone systems and payroll services.
“We have employees asking when they’re going to get paid. But right now, everyone is busy backing up electronic medical records and addressing patient health risks,” Karen Christianson said in an interview with KrebsOnSecurity.com.
“We have some facilities where nurses can’t get their medications or order them so they arrive on time. In another case, we have a small assisted living facility, which is a unit that is paid for by us. And if they don’t get their money by December 5th, they’re going to close their doors,” Christianson added.
Recently, ransomware attacks in the healthcare sector have increased, as sensitive information is very important to the institution, making it an attractive target for hackers.
Recently, several hospitals and healthcare providers in the US and Australia were forced to temporarily halt some of their operations after falling victim to ransomware attacks.
The Victorian government said seven hospitals and health services in the region's southwest and Gippsland have lost access to their IT systems and have resorted to more traditional practices.
Hospitals that have been attacked are being forced to stop accepting new patients and cancel some surgeries. Government authorities said they were working with health services and cybersecurity to investigate the incident.
