The CentraState Medical Center's cybersecurity issue has caused the hospital to divert ambulances and the majority of new patients to other institutions.
The Medical Center’s spokesperson, Lori Palmer says that the hospital’s critical care has not been affected and they are still taking some walk-in patients. "We are still accepting patients if people walk into the (Emergency Department). We have patients currently here, many of whom are currently being taken care of," she told.
In addition, Friday's outpatient services were scheduled to be suspended at 1 p.m. and stay that way until further notice.
While the cybersecurity issue was detected early Friday, the hospital is currently attempting to identify the extent and origin of the situation. Palmer adds that the hospital has immediately informed about the issue and alerted the state Department of Health and Senior Services.
It is yet not clear whether the investigation involves the New Office of Homeland Security, which deals with cyberattack cases.
Late November saw the release of an alert from the New Jersey office and its cybersecurity unit, the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell, warning the public to be on the lookout for any indications of cyber threats targeting individuals, organizations, and businesses throughout the state during the upcoming holiday season.
Moreover, the alert level of the office is currently at “blue” or “guarded,” i.e. a general risk related to hacking or malicious activities, although no "known exploits have been identified or known exploits have been identified but no significant impact has occurred."
CentraState's cybersecurity issue comes weeks after many other hospitals reported a security breach, that later made news headlines. Some of the recent cases are listed below:
- Medibank Data Breach: In November, last year, Medibank hospital announced that it has faced a data breach, in which the attacker apparently accessed data involving patients’ names, date of birth, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.
- WakeMed Data Breach: Later, WakeMed and Duke Hospital of North Carolina reported that the personal and protected medical data of thousands of local patients may have been exposed to Facebook, by tracking pixel.
