Massachusetts Hospital Diverts Ambulances as Cyberattack Causes Disruption

Signature Healthcare in Brockton, Massachusetts, has diverted ambulances after a cyberattack caused significant disruptions.

Signature Healthcare runs Brockton Hospital, a 200-bed community hospital, and the Signature Medical Group, which employs more than 150 physicians across 15 locations.

The healthcare organization reported responding to a cybersecurity incident on Monday. Impatient care and walk-in emergency services remained open, but ambulance traffic was still being diverted on Tuesday.

“Upon identifying suspicious activity within a portion of our network, we immediately activated our incident response protocols. We moved to down-time procedures to ensure high-quality patient care and safety,” Signature Healthcare stated.

While surgeries and procedures have not been impacted, chemotherapy infusion services have been canceled, and patients have been notified of potential delays at Signature Medical Group and urgent care practices.

Some of its retail pharmacies were closed on Monday. They reopened on Tuesday for consultations but were unable to fill prescriptions.

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The organization has not confirmed a ransomware attack, and the attackers’ motives remain unclear.

No known ransomware group appears to have taken credit for the attack on Signature Healthcare, but these types of cybercrime gangs typically wait until negotiations stall or fail before naming victims on their websites to pressure them into paying a ransom.

Many healthcare organizations around the world have been hit by disruptive cyberattacks in recent years.

Some resulted in data breaches affecting hundreds of thousands and even millions of individuals, and some incidents may have even led to patient deaths, including in the US, Germany, and the UK.

Originally published by SecurityWeek

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