Skip to main content

Baltimore hospital group shut down entire network to fight malware threat

MedStar Health, a group of Baltimore, Maryland hospitals, shut down their entire network yesterday to stop the spread of an unidentified malware attack. As of today, the network is back up and running.

“Our team quickly made a decision to take down all of our systems as a precaution and to ensure no further corruption,” says an official statement. The incident happened just one week after Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in California had its entire network shut down by ransomware.

Recommended Videos

Hollywood Presbyterian ultimately paid off the ransomware to the tune of $17,000; MedStar Health isn’t confirming or denying that they paid anyone off, only pointing to the statement on their website.

“We are working with our IT and Cybersecurity partners to fully assess and address the situation,” the hospital said in a statement. Also involved is the FBI, which is reportedly investigating the situation.

Networks temporarily shut down to prevent virus spread. We have no evidence of compromised information. All facilities remain open.

— MedStar Health (@MedStarHealth) March 28, 2016

There is no evidence that any personal information has been stolen, according MedStar’s statement.

The healthcare industry is a particularly attractive target for hackers and malware makers, if also a reprehensible one for them to select. Hospitals and insurance companies store a ton of personal information about patients, which is useful in the black market. Tight budgets, meanwhile, mean cyber-security isn’t always a top priority.

The last few months have seen hospitals targeted in a wide range of attacks, from Hollywood to Kentucky and even to attacks on medical devices themselves. It’s an unfortunate reality.

“The attempt to negatively impact an institution designed to save lives and care for those in need is a sad and troublesome reality of our times, not only for MedStar Health, but for our entire industry and the communities we serve,” said Kenneth A. Samet, president and CEO of MedStar Health.

He’s right, but it’s also true that healthcare companies need to do more to lock down their networks for the 21st century. Sad and troublesome as it might be, it’s necessary.

Justin Pot
Justin's always had a passion for trying out new software, asking questions, and explaining things – tech journalism is the…
Watch these AI humanoid robots play soccer like Mbappé … sort of
Humanoid robots playing soccer.

Watching these humanoid robots battle it out on the soccer field, you quickly realize that Kylian Mbappé and his fellow professionals really have little to worry about. At least, for now.

The footage (top) was captured last week in Beijing at the RoBoLeague World Robot Soccer League, China's first-ever three-on-three humanoid robot soccer league.

Read more
The robot takeover comes another step closer — at Amazon
An Amazon robot working inside one of the company's warehouses.

Amazon is close to having more robots operating inside its warehouses than humans after the e-commerce giant announced this week that it now has more than a million robots working at its facilities around the world.

Over the years, Amazon has spent billions of dollars on the development and deployment of warehouse-based robots, which handle an array of tasks once performed by human workers.

Read more
This Lenovo ThinkPad laptop is over $1,400 off — hurry while stocks last!
The Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 Intel laptop on a white background.

Now's an excellent time to take advantage of laptop deals from Lenovo, which has slashed the prices of a wide range of devices for its Black Friday in July sale. Lenovo's ThinkPad laptops are up to 45% off, and here's one of the most interesting offers available with such a discount — the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 at $1,440 off its estimated value of $3,199, so you'll only have to pay $1,759. That's an excellent price for this fantastic productivity tool, but you're going to have to push forward with your purchase as soon as possible because stocks may run out at any moment.

BUY NOW

Read more