Cyberattack hits major hospital chain Universal Health Services
Cyberattack hits major hospital chain Universal Health Services
What appears to be a major ransomware attack has hit the computers of Universal Health Services, one of largest hospital chains. This affects hundreds of locations.
A network outage at Universal Health Services hospitals and clinical facilities across the country began overnight Sunday, forcing employees onto paper backup systems.
Cybersecurity experts say the incident is likely a ransomware attack, in which hackers lock up computer networks, often steal information and demand payment to restore access.
There were anecdotal reports of disrupted operations at various hospitals, from Wi-Fi-based patient monitors not functioning, to emergency room wait times growing exponentially and canceled surgeries.
Universal Health Services released a short statement saying its network is offline due to an IT security issue and that no patient or employee data appears to be compromised.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
