Security fears as ransomware attack compromises Victorian hospital computers
Several Victorian hospitals have been hit by a ransomware attack which has wrought havoc on patient booking systems and reignited fears over patient information security.
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Computer networks across several Victorian hospitals have been hit by a ransomware attack, forcing some patient booking systems to be shut down.
It is understood University Hospital Geelong, Colac Area Health, South West Healthcare Warrnambool, Latrobe Regional Hospital, West Gippsland Healthcare Group and Bairnsdale Regional Health are among those affected.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software, usually spread through phishing emails, that blocks access to computer systems until a ransom is paid.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos confirmed this afternoon that the incident “has had an impact on a small number of clinical services, including outpatient appointments and elective surgery”.
“At this stage, we are advised that although Barwon Health had to suspend some clinical services, most outpatient appointments and most elective surgery proceeded as planned today. There has also been a small impact to aged care at Warrnambool and radiation services in Gippsland,” she said.
“Other hospitals have so far avoided having to suspend clinical services.”
“Emergency surgery and emergency departments have not been compromised.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the matter was “serious” and would be investigated by Victoria Police.
“It’s a serious issue. It is a crime after all and in terms of disruption there will be no impact on emergency care,” Mr Andrews said.
“This is small group of hospitals in the southwest of the state. We are not diminishing the impact but it is one part of the health system, not the entire health system. This is a criminal act and a lot of thought has gone into attacks in these particular hospitals.
“There will be days, up to a weeks worth of work that will have to be done to secure that network and to go through and clean out the virus that has got into that system.
“As far as disruption to patients there will be disruption for outpatients, there will be some disruption for non-urgent care for elective surgery. The exact nature of that will unfold and we will keep the community updated.”
The Herald Sun has been told health services are contacting affected patients.
In a statement, the Department of Premier and Cabinet said: “At this time, there is no suggestion that personal patient information has been accessed.”
Victorian Government cyber security principal advisor David Cullen said the details of the attack are being investigated.
“What is important here is at this time we have no information to indicate patient data has been compromised,” he said.
“This will be a long, protracted and forensic investigation and it will take some time to find out what exactly has happened here.”
Mr Cullen confirmed access to patient records had been cut off as well as appointment scheduling software.
Some corporate systems are also down meaning there may be issues with staff pay.
“At this stage the exact details of the ransomware have not been confirmed that will certainly be a priority...but to be clear if this is a ransom, and we are seeing ransomware, we will not pay cyber criminals in response to these cyber attacks.”
Victoria Police has been called in to work with the Victorian Cyber Incident Response Service to manage the response to the attack.
“The cyber incident, which was uncovered on Monday, has blocked access to several systems by the infiltration of ransomware, including financial management,” DPC’s statement said.
“Hospitals have isolated and disconnected a number of systems such as internet to quarantine the infection. The priority is to fix all affected systems and prevent any further compromise.”
“This isolation has led to the shutdown of some patient record, booking and management systems, which may impact on patient contact and scheduling. Where practical, hospitals are reverting to manual systems to maintain their services.”
“The affected hospitals are now working on their bookings and scheduling to minimise impact on patients, but may need to reschedule some services where they don’t have computer access to patient histories, charts, images and other information.”
It comes after the state’s Auditor-General hacked into the IT systems of several major Victorian hospitals, exposing cyber security flaws earlier this year.
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“All the audited health services need to do more to protect patient data,” Auditor-General Andrews Greaves reported at the time.
“Our testing found that once attackers gained access to health services’ systems — either through phishing or by implanting a rogue device within a hospital — they could exploit these weaknesses to access patient data.”
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said he held “very grave concerns” about the cyber attack.
He questioned why the government “hasn’t done the work” to fix the “loopholes” in the system identified by the Auditor-General earlier this year.
“Our hospital IT wasn’t up to scratch, it was vulnerable to cyber attack,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Why hasn’t Daniel Andrews acted more quickly on the Auditor-General’s report?”