SW Ontario hospitals confirm patient data compromised in cyberattack Windsor Star

pAs the fallout from last weeks cyberattack against five southwestern Ontario hospitals continues to spread the organizations confirmed Tuesday that patient information was stolen and they now fear the blackmailers might publish it onlineppppTransForm Shared Service Organization which runs technology systems for the five affected hospitals said it is working with local police agencies in the cities where the breaches occurred Ontario Provincial Police the FBI and Interpol as part of a criminal investigationppSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across CanadappSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across CanadappCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experienceppDont have an account Create AccountppppThe cybersecurity breaches the result of a blackmail attempt happened at hospitals in Windsor Leamington Sarnia and ChathamKentppppThe organization said it has also notified the Ontario Information and Privacy CommissionerppppWorking with leading cybersecurity experts we have determined through our investigation that unfortunately certain patient employee and professional staff data has been taken and there is the possibility that the actors responsible for this attack may publish some of the stolen data TransForm said in a media release We continue to investigate to determine the exact data impacted and any individuals whose data was affected by this cyberattack will be notified in accordance with the lawppppThe cyberattack took down systems at Erie Shores HealthCare WindsorEssex Hospice HôtelDieu Grace Healthcare and Windsor Regional Hospital Sarnias Bluewater Health and Chatham Kent Health Alliance were also affectedppppThe blackmailers targeted the hospitals through TransForm which runs their IT supply chain and accounts payable systemsppppThe organizations confirmed Tuesday in a joint statement that we are victims of a ransomware attackppppTransForm and the hospitals did not say if they know where the attackers are based or exactly what their demands wereppppThe attack shut down the hospitals access to WiFi email and patient information systems Procedures were postponed hospitals couldnt reach some patients and staff had to revert to paper charting Safety issues such as flagging potentially violent patients are being documented with paper formsppppWe continue to work around the clock to restore systems and we expect to have updates related to the restoration of our systems in the upcoming week TransForm said We are working closely with law enforcement including local police departments Ontario Provincial Police INTERPOL and FBI and we have notified all relevant regulatory organizations including the Ontario Information and Privacy CommissionerppppThe Ontario Nurses Association said last week that Windsor Regional Hospital had to bring in extra staff and managers to deal with fallout from the cyberattack The nurses union also said that Windsor Regional Hospital had implemented its emergency downtime process a procedure followed when cybersystems malfunction after being notified of the security breachppppWith patient information systems offline the attack left hospitals unable to reach some patients to inform them of what is happening or reschedule appointments TransForm said Tuesday that is still an ongoing issueppppThe hospitals will continue to do their best to contact patients directly in advance if they have a scheduled appointment with one of our hospitals that needs to be rescheduled TransForm said in the joint statement If patients do not need emergency care we ask that they please attend their primary care provider or local clinicppppppWith a criminal investigation now underway TransForm said it would not comment further on the situation except to provide updates on system restorationsppppWe understand the impact this incident is having on members of our community including patients and our employees and professional staff and deeply apologize for the inconvenience this has caused the organization said We want to thank everyone for their patience during this timepppptwilhelmpostmediacompppptwittercomWinStarWilhelmppppPostmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settingsppTo contribute to the conversation you need to be logged in If you are not yet registered create your account now its FREEpp365 Bloor Street East Toronto Ontario M4W 3L4pp 2023 Windsor Star a division of Postmedia Network Inc All rights reserved Unauthorized 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