{"id":98503,"date":"2024-12-24T14:01:17","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T22:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2024\/12\/24\/5-6-million-patients-data-stolen-during-ascensions-ransomware-attack-earlier-this-year\/"},"modified":"2024-12-24T14:01:17","modified_gmt":"2024-12-24T22:01:17","slug":"5-6-million-patients-data-stolen-during-ascensions-ransomware-attack-earlier-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2024\/12\/24\/5-6-million-patients-data-stolen-during-ascensions-ransomware-attack-earlier-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"5.6 Million Patients\u2019 Data Stolen During Ascension\u2019s Ransomware Attack Earlier This Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ascension\u2019s May cyberattack compromised 5.6 million patients\u2019 personal and health information, including Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and addresses. However, there is no evidence that any data was stolen from Acension\u2019s EHR or other clinical systems, the health system said.<br \/>\nThe post 5.6 Million Patients\u2019 Data Stolen During Ascension\u2019s Ransomware Attack Earlier This Year appeared first on Above the Law.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-single__featured-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/medcitynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1179590017-600x338.jpg?resize=600%2C338&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"security cybersecurity\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"post-single__content\">\n<p>The cyberattack that Ascension suffered in May resulted in the exposure of 5.6 million patients\u2019 personal and health information, according to a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/agviewer\/content\/ag\/985235c7-cb95-4be2-8792-a1252b4f8318\/e55264f2-ff87-4b28-874d-653cfb735fe6.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">breach notification<\/a> filed with the Maine Attorney General.<\/p>\n<p>The health system is providing all impacted patients credit monitoring and identity protection services free of charge. The exposed data includes personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, Social Security numbers, driver\u2019s license numbers and addresses, as well as medical information like procedure codes and types of lab tests.<\/p>\n<p>There is no evidence that data was stolen from Acension\u2019s EHR or other clinical systems, though, the health system said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/about.ascension.org\/cybersecurity-event?_gl=1*1bso6db*FPAU*MjA3MTE0MzA2Ny4xNzM0MDE3NTM2*_ga*ODc4NTEwMTcyLjE3MzQwMTc1MzU.*_ga_BGPJM8XFJ4*MTczNDcwNjk1MS4xLjAuMTczNDcwNjk1MS4wLjAuOTIzODQ5MDQz*_fplc*dWFSNVNpWUdvSHglMkJRQVM2JTJGRk1naEVlU2p0NyUyQlY4dFV2dTRka0tadlE5VExsQ3BGWDNTQUJ4R1VBJTJCVkpaZVB2amN6dVkwRDVVZHZpNzZrRHRqSDhMMWFCa1lhTyUyRnFmdXpNcFlaUlllbXU3V3hMZVJzeEMxQmNkaVpJbE4lMkJRJTNEJTNE\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a> last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When Ascension \u2014 the fourth-largest health system in the country \u2014 was attacked earlier this year, there were <a href=\"https:\/\/medcitynews.com\/2024\/05\/ascension-cyberattack\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">major repercussions<\/a> in terms of both patient safety and operational efficiency.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hospitals across several states went offline, ambulances had to be diverted to hospitals whose systems were still functioning, and thousands of clinicians had to revert to paper recordkeeping. It took weeks for Ascension to <a href=\"https:\/\/about.ascension.org\/cybersecurity-event\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fully restore<\/a> its EHR and clinical operations, with things normalizing in mid-June.<\/p>\n<p>The attack also had a major effect on the health system\u2019s finances. Ascension\u2019s financial results for the fourth-quarter fiscal year 2024 revealed a $1.8 billion operating margin loss, which was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beckershospitalreview.com\/cybersecurity\/ascensions-losses-from-the-cyberattack-mount.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">due in large part<\/a> to the cyberattack.<\/p>\n<p>Ransomware group Black Basta <a href=\"https:\/\/medcitynews.com\/2024\/06\/cybersecurity-ascension-ransomware-healthcare\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">claimed<\/a> responsibility for the attack. The cybergang \u2014 which is <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/malwrhunterteam\/status\/1519301421958578177\" rel=\"nofollow\">believed<\/a> to be an offshoot of the notorious Russian cybercriminal group Conti \u2014 has impacted more than 500 organizations across the world, according to a May <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-05\/aa24-131a-joint-csa-stopransomware-black-basta_1.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">notice<\/a> from the <a href=\"https:\/\/medcitynews.com\/tag\/cisa\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Healthcare cyberattacks of this scale are likely to continue, according to Tim Rawlins, senior adviser and director of security at cybersecurity consultancy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nccgroup.com\/us\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NCC Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHealthcare will always be an attractive target, given the sheer quantity of sensitive data organizations hold and the need to make information available to the medical staff as quickly as possible. This case reflects that situation. It is also indicative of the situation we see in so many medical institutions \u2014 investing in keeping IT systems patched, secure and segmented will always take second place to a new medical device in most doctors\u2019 minds,\u201d he said in a statement sent to <em>MedCity News<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Photo: JuSun, Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ascension\u2019s May cyberattack compromised 5.6 million patients\u2019 personal and health information, including Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and addresses. However, there is no evidence that any data was stolen from Acension\u2019s EHR or other clinical systems, the health system said. The post 5.6 Million Patients\u2019 Data Stolen During Ascension\u2019s Ransomware Attack Earlier This Year [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":98504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ransomware-2320941_1280-s0uyQF.jpeg?fit=1280%2C853&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}