Wickenburg (Ariz.) Community Hospital was the target of a ransomware attack on June 28; however, within three days, its four-person IT team had the hospital's computers almost fully functional, according to AZ Central.
One of the IT technicians noticed the ransomware attack. A computer screen in the hospital's emergency department was locked and the screen read "Ryuk."
Wickenburg's interim CIO Blue Beckham was unsure if the hackers wanted to restore access to the hospital's system. So, he never contacted the cybercriminals and refused to pay the ransom. Mr. Beckham suggests the attack happened as the result of a phishing email.
Instead, Wickenburg's IT team rebuilt the hospital's computer systems from scratch. During this time, the hospital's patient care was unaffected, Mr. Beckham told AZ Central. By Monday, July 1, the hospital's computer systems were up and running as normal.
Since then, Wickenburg has been using its new system. Wickenburg has also upgraded its cybersecurity software.