Ascension identifies how hacker gained access to systems after cyberattack

Ascension St. John said the company has made progress in its investigation and recovery after a cyberattack.

An Ascension spokesperson released the following update on Wednesday:

“We have made progress in our investigation and recovery with the help of third-party cybersecurity experts. At this point, we now have evidence that indicates that the attackers were able to take files from a small number of file servers used by our associates primarily for daily and routine tasks. These servers represent seven of the approximately 25,000 servers across our network. Though we are still investigating, we believe some of those files may contain Protected Health Information (PHI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for certain individuals, although the specific data may differ from individual to individual.”

The spokesperson said they have also identified how the attacker gained access to their systems.

“An individual working in one of our facilities accidentally downloaded a malicious file that they thought was legitimate. We have no reason to believe this was anything but an honest mistake. Importantly, we have no evidence that data was taken from our Electronic Health Records (EHR) and other clinical systems, where our full patient records are securely stored,” they said.

Ascension said they don’t know precisely what data may have been taken and if any patients may be affected.

To determine that information, they began conducting a full review of the files that may have been impacted.

“While we have started this process, it is a significant undertaking that will take time,” they said. “In the meantime, to provide our patients and associates with the greatest peace of mind possible, we are offering complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to any Ascension patient or associate who requests it, free of charge, and regardless of whether we determine in the future that their data was actually involved in this incident. Individuals who wish to enroll in free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services should call our dedicated call center at 1-888-498-8066.”

You can read Ascension’s previous statements by clicking here.