Keck Medicine in Los Angeles, part of University of Southern California, has reported two servers were hit with ransomware in August, encrypting files and making them inaccessible to employees. The hospitals did not pay any ransom.
USC Keck and Norris Hospitals detected the ransomware Aug. 1 after some hospital employees were unable to access files. The hospitals indicate they were able to quickly contain and isolate the attack to prevent it from spreading to other servers.
A statement from Rod Hanners, COO of Keck Medicine of USC and CEO of Keck Hospitals, indicates the organization notified the FBI and launched an internal investigation.
The infected servers do not store Keck's EMR. The folders stored on the server are departmental files containing internal operational documents intended for use among hospital and clinical personnel, including training manuals, human resource materials and information needed for hospital operations, according to the statement.
There is no indication any data was retrieved or accessed during the malware attack, but Mr. Hanners wrote the organization is notifying patients as a precaution, as the servers did contain sensitive information including names, demographic information, birth dates, treatment and diagnosis information and some Social Security numbers.
Keck Medicine is enhancing its security detection and response processes, according to the statement.
"We apologize for any inconvenience or concern that this notification may cause," Mr. Hanners wrote. "As a member of the Trojan family, we want to ensure that we do all that we can to maintain your trust and confidence."
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