Ascension Healthcare Network victim of a cyberattack

Another cyber attack on a healthcare network has been reported. The latest target is Ascension, a health system that includes 140 hospitals and 40 senior living facilities in 19 states.

The extent of the attack is still unclear and it is unclear who is behind the attack. There is also no information yet about which vulnerabilities were exploited or how the attackers accessed the systems.

Ascension joins Change Healthcare and UnitedHealth in a growing list of healthcare providers targeted by cybersecurity attacks. The Change Healthcare and UnitedHelath cyberattack on February 21, 2024 affected hundreds of pharmacies worldwide, including patient care, and appears to have been the work of the infamous ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware crew.

Here is a timeline of events surrounding the UnitedHealth/Change Healthcare attack and its impact.

Ascension provides few details about the attack

A statement on Ascension’s website said that on May 8, the organization “discovered unusual activity on select technology network systems” due to a cybersecurity incident.

“We responded immediately, commencing our investigation and activating our remedial measures. Access to some systems has been suspended while this process continues,” the statement said.

Ascension, which is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, acknowledged that there was a “disruption to clinical operations” and is continuing to assess the impact and duration of the disruption.

Mandiant, part of Google Cloud, supports the investigation and remediation process.

“Together, we are working to fully investigate what information, if any, may be affected by the situation,” Ascension said. “If we determine that sensitive information has been affected, we will notify and assist those individuals in accordance with all relevant regulatory and legal guidelines.”