Re: Experts warn parents of threats as Lurie's Children's Hospital hit by cyberattack

On 27 Jan 2022, Molly Bolt <[email protected]> posted some
news:[email protected]: 

> Ask the black genius Chicago mayor to deal with it.  He should be ble
> to have it fixed and running in minutes.  Right?  Right?? 

Cybersecurity experts are warning parents to be vigilant after a
'cybersecurity matter' caused significant issues at Chicago’s Lurie
Children’s Hospital. 

For a week, officials at the hospital have been dealing with the
incident that forced employees to take key systems offline, with IT
teams still working to restore computer and phone service at the
hospital. 

Doctors are still seeing patients at the hospital, according to
officials, and work continues to secure technology systems, according to
a new update posted Tuesday. 

“Our top priority remains providing safe, quality care to our patients
and the communities we serve,” officials said. “We acknowledge the
inconvenience and concern this system outage causes for our patient
families, team members and community providers.” 

As a result of the incident, officials say they have taken network
systems offline, including phone, email and electronic records. 

As officials continue working to “mitigate” the disruption,
cybersecurity experts say that there are two things officials are
working on. 

“They are not so much worried at this point about who did it, because
their primary focus is one, to make sure the hacker no longer has
control of their environment, but also, two, to ensure they can get
those systems back up and running to provide critical health care
services to the patients that need them,” Cyrus Walker, founder of
Chicago-based Data Defenders Cybersecurity, said. 

Officials say that law enforcement remains involved in the
investigation, including the Justice Department. The FBI is offering
assistance to the hospital amid that investigation, sources told NBC
Chicago.  

The cyber incursion has led to complications for those who are scheduled
for surgery and other procedures at the hospital. 

“I would imagine the reason why a lot of the surgeries that were being
planned were canceled is that the doctors don’t have the access to the
right data in order to make the right decisions,” Walker said. 

Experts also warn of the possibility that Lurie patients and their
parents could still be targeted by other cybercriminals in the future. 

“Healthcare information is the most valuable information on the dark web
because of the secondary compromise that can be done by these malicious
actors,” Checkpoint Security’s Pete Nicoletti said. 

The hospital says it is working to “mitigate the disruption” and to
maintain continuity of care, according to the statement. 

For assistance, parents are asked to call a dedicated call center at
1-800-543-7362. During hours the call center is closed, the main
operator can be reached at 312-227-4000. 

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/experts-warn-parents-of-threats-as-
luries-childrens-hospital-hit-by-cyberattack/3348702/