Malware Takes Medical Facility Offline
FirstHealth of the Carolinas has been offline since October 17, 2017 due to a malware attack. It is believed the malware is ransomware; however, it has not been publicly confirmed. At this time, the cyber attack has been deemed a malware virus. On October 17th, a malware infected infiltrated the systems of FirstHealth by a device that was not issued by the medical facility. The malicious software was quickly identified by the information systems team. To prevent further infection, the team took the medical facility’s systems offline. FirstHealth has thousands of devices connected to its network, in over 100 different locations.
As of today, October 23rd, the systems remain offline. Emily Sloan, assistant public relations director for FirstHealth reports,
“Out of an abundance of caution, FirstHealth remains on downtime, as the Information System team validates that all systems and devices have been tested and cleared of any threat.”
The downtime procedures have caused minor issues with scheduling, handling patient records, and day-to-day workings within the facilities. However, the interference has not impacted any critical or emergency situations.
After the initial investigation, it is believed patient data was not compromised. It also appears there has not been any corruption of FirstHealth devices or networks.
