Maternal & Family Health Services, a nonprofit organization that oversees and supports a network of health and nutrition centers in 17 northeastern Pennsylvania counties, announced Tuesday that it has been attacked. attacked by “sophisticated” ransomware on April 4, 2022.
WHY IT IMPORTANT
According to the statement, the unauthorized access to the organization’s systems occurred between August 21, 2021 and April 4, 2022.
MFHS, which serves more than 90,000 women, men and children annually, provides pregnancy care, reproductive health, etc., and administers the WIC nutrition program.
The organization began sending out letters this week to potentially affected patients to notify them that their personal information may have been compromised.
Personal and financial data may include name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license number, financial account/payment card information, username and password, information medical information and/or health insurance information.
MFHS is providing free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to people with Social Security numbers and/or payment card/financial account information that may be involved in the incident.
TREND TO BIGGER
Ransomware attacks vendors and agencies, both small and large, and cybercriminals will attack profit and nonprofit organizations.
The size of the healthcare industry makes all players the target of cyberattacks.
Whether it’s a CMS business partner or a nationwide provider like CommonSpirit Health, organizations still struggle to maintain service and care while they bring their systems back online and roll out stars. save.
And while larger provider systems can be more complex than small medical groups, “they still have the same kind of risk, as we have [all] Leveraging technology to deliver care,” said Erik Decker, CISO of Intermountain Healthcare based in Salt Lake City. Healthcare IT News in September.
ON PROFILE
“We understand the inconvenience or concern this incident can cause and are committed to strengthening the security of our systems to prevent an incident of this type from happening again,” said Maria Montoro Edwards, president and CEO. Executive Director of Maternal and Family Health Services, said in a statement.
Andrea Fox is the senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS.
