Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto says most systems back after ransomware attack – Toronto
Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children says most of its priority systems are back after a ransomware attack impacted its operations.
dr Ronald Cohn, president and CEO of SickKids, said in a news release Thursday that about 80 percent of the hospital’s priority systems have been restored.
He says the cyberattack, which began December 18, was dealt with relatively quickly with minimal disruption to patients and families.
On Saturday, LockBit, a ransomware group that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has called one of the most active and destructive in the world, issued a brief apology and offered SickKids a free decryptor to unlock its data.
Cohn says the hospital didn’t use the decryptor, it didn’t pay a ransom, and its tech team is working to restore the remaining systems.
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He says patients and families are unlikely to experience a significant impact on their care and most of the hospital’s clinical teams are no longer using downtime procedures.
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“I’m very grateful that we were able to give Code Gray the all clear relatively quickly and with minimal disruption to patients and families,” Cohn said.
“We could not have lifted Code Gray as efficiently as we have without the extremely hard work of our staff and the expertise of outside consultants over the holiday period.
“I would like to extend my deepest gratitude and gratitude to our staff, patients, families and community partners for their patience and support, and to the wider community for the overwhelming offers of support and expertise over the past two weeks.”
Cohn said the investigation into what happened is ongoing.
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He said the hospital called the Code Gray when the cybersecurity attack was first discovered on December 18 and initiated its plan to respond, including consulting with third-party cybersecurity experts.
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Cohn said the hospital’s electronic medical records were not affected.
According to experts, LockBit has been linked to recent cyberattacks on communities in Ontario and Quebec, and in October a Russian-Canadian national was arrested for his alleged involvement with the group.
US officials claim the group made ransom demands of at least $100 million and extorted tens of millions of victims.
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