Ascension, one of Illinois’s largest health care organizations, recently fell victim to a suspected cyberattack that disrupted ongoing clinical operations. The suspected “cyber security event” reportedly affected several network systems used by the organization, although the entire extent of damages caused by the cyberattack is still being determined.
The organization publicly mentioned the suspected cyberattack and the disruption of activities in an official statement on May 9, mentioning that efforts were underway to remedy the situation. The suspected threat to their network systems was revealed when the organization detected “unusual activity on select technology network systems” on May 8.
Ascension is a vast operation, and a cyberattack on its network systems can cause significant problems in the day-to-day functioning of the 150 care sites and 14 hospitals under its umbrella. However, in the official statement released by the organization, Ascension has assured that its “care teams are trained for these kinds of disruptions and have initiated procedures to ensure patient care delivery continues to be safe and as minimally impacted as possible.”
“There has been a disruption to clinical operations, and we continue to assess the impact and duration of the disruption,” the statement added.
The cyberattack is currently under investigation by the organization, with the help of the authorities concerned with cyber security and a third-party expert known as “Mandiant.” Since the exact impact of the cyberattack is yet to be determined by the investigators, Ascension has brought its business partners up to speed with the ongoing situation and urged them to take necessary steps to ensure that their systems are not affected.
“We encourage all business partners to coordinate with the Ascension Technology partners to address any specific questions. This is an ongoing situation and we will provide updates as we learn more,” the official statement read.
The US Continues to be Plagued with Cyber Security Threats
The suspected cyberattack on Ascension is the latest in the line of cyber security threats that have plagued the United States since the beginning of 2024, with the cyberattack on Microsoft earlier in March, reportedly the handiwork of Russian state-sponsored hacking group Midnight Blizzard, being a significant one.
Ascension is also not the first major health care organization to have become the target of hackers this year, as the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago famously suffered the same fate back in February when the medical facility had to make do without phones and internet services. Following a significant ordeal and thorough investigation, the hospital was successful in bringing almost all of its systems online by the end of March.
“Lurie Children’s continues to make progress in reactivating our remaining systems,” the hospital’s statement regarding the latest status on the incident, published on March 29, read. “As we continue to bring all resources to bear in response to this incident, our patients and patient-families remain our top priority. We thank our community for your continued patience and will provide additional updates as we have more information to share.”
