Washington, D.C.-based Children's National Hospital has implemented a code that signals staff to unplug or turn off internet-connected devices to mitigate cyberattacks, The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 3.
Nurses, physicians or staff members who see something suspicious on a technology device report it to the hospital security staff, who then calls "code dark." The code signals technology specialists to begin working on securing the hospital's network while other employees shut down machines near them.
"If we call a code dark, the entire hospital knows to disconnect devices anywhere they can," Nathan Lesser, chief information security officer of Children's National, told the newspaper. "And then suddenly, we have this additional perimeter. We can reduce the blast radius of malicious code running rampant across our network."
Mr. Lesser said due to the increase of attacks on healthcare facilities, Children's National Hospital has begun to ramp up its defenses.
He said the hospital now has detailed instructions on how to power down devices, which include pulling a power or network cord as a last resort.
The health system has also created training documents with photos of what different cables look like with affixed reminder labels on machines such as monitors and network-connected devices. In addition, all hospital staff members carry cards with code dark steps on lanyards.