The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance and neighbouring hospital organizations in Windsor-Essex and Sarnia-Lambton have seen sensitive information stolen and published.
This according to a press release on behalf of the CKHA, Bluewater Health, Erie Shores HealthCare, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare and Windsor Regional Hospital, and their shared service provider TransForm Shared Service Organization (TFSSO).
In a joint media release, they updated the media on the fallout from being victims of a ransomware attack.
And there’s some sensitive data in the wrong hands.
“We are reviewing the data to determine its contents,” officials said in the media release. “Working with leading cybersecurity experts, we continue to investigate to determine the exact data impacted. Any individuals whose data was affected by this cyberattack will be promptly notified, in accordance with the law.”
The health-care organizations are working “closely” with local police, the OPP, INTERPOL and the FBI – and all relevant regulatory organizations, including the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner, have been notified.
Despite the ransom attempt, officials refused to give into demands.
“Our leaders, on advice by our experts that we could not verify claims by the attacker, decided we would not yield to their ransom demands,” the release stated. “We are aligned in this position with the governments of 50 nations, including Canada, who have recently pledged to never pay ransom to cybercriminals.”
Personnel are working “around the clock” to restore systems.
The hospitals will continue to try to contact patients directly in advance if they have a scheduled appointment that needs to be rescheduled, officials said.
If patients do not need emergency care, they are asked to contact their primary care provider or visit a local clinic.
“We understand the impact this incident is having on members of our community, including patients and our employees and professional staff, and deeply apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. We want to thank everyone for their patience during this time,” officials said in the media release.
