Wisconsin Health System Ascension Is The Latest To Be Cyberattacked

(CTN News) – A multiple-hospital and Ascension clinic health system in Wisconsin is conducting an investigation into a cyberattack that obstructed access to certain technological systems. However, whether hackers had access to private patient information is unknown.

Ascension, a St. Louis-based organization, reported on Wednesday that it had detected “abnormal activity” on specific network systems, attributing it to what it considers to be a “cyber security incident.”

Ascension declared that it is conducting an investigation to determine which data may have been compromised. Ascension made a commitment to inform the affected parties in the event that any sensitive information became compromised.

“Our care teams are trained for these types of disruptions and have implemented procedures to ensure patient care delivery remains safe and is minimally impacted as much as possible,” the healthcare organization said in a statement.

“Clinical operations have been disrupted, and we are still evaluating the extent and timing of the disruption.”

An immediate response to a request for comment from Ascension was not received.

Alex Holden is the chief information security officer of Hold Security, a company headquartered in Mequon, Wisconsin. Public statements made by Ascension regarding the incident suggest that the assault did not constitute a “complete intrusion” into their network, according to the organization.

According to him, “They’re also pushing their partners to temporarily cut off technology connections into Ascension.” “There appears to be a risk that the breach is not entirely contained, which could have an impact on their partners as well, or there appears to be exploitation that came from a certain party into them.”

A year ago, Hospital Sisters Health System and Prevea both encountered a comprehensive disruption as a result of a cyberattack. The privacy of patients’ personal information at the nonprofit managed health care organization Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin was also compromised in a cyberattack that occurred at the start of 2024.

The New York Times reports that hackers have increasingly targeted hospital systems in recent years. The health care industry is reportedly one of the most susceptible sectors to cyberattacks due to the potential for medical records to be sold at inflated prices on the open market.

As reported by The HIPAA Journal, a health news source, the number of data intrusions involving 500 or more records increased from 720 the year prior to 725 last year.

Holden of the Mequon cyber security firm posits that medical data might be more financially advantageous to hackers than financial data. This is due to the immutable nature of medical information, in contrast to credit or debit cards that can be easily canceled.

From a historical standpoint, medical information is always accurate and valuable.” “People value medical information protection far more than financial information, which is more easily changed.”

Holden further stated that health system anti-hacker measures could rapidly become obsolete. He foresees a rise in the frequency of attacks of this nature in the future years.

“Every year, this gets worse and ramps up because of increasingly sophisticated hacks,” according to him. In this regard, the adversaries are becoming more astute. In recent months or years, their understanding of medical systems has significantly expanded.

This is why, according to Holden, it is essential for healthcare organizations to sustain modern technology and be “cybersecurity aware.”

Employee training is of equal importance, in his opinion.

“They must be invested in the organization’s cyber security because human involvement is currently a factor in breaches,” Holden asserted. “By identifying the warning signs earlier and preventing breaches from worsening or starting in the first place, we are more likely to be able to prevent these breaches if we are more knowledgeable about cybersecurity.”

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