German Hospitals Targeted in Cyberattack
German network of hospitals KATHOLISCHE HOSPITALVEREINUNG (KHO) confirmed that the recent work disruptions at three hospitals in Bielefeld, Rheda-Wiedenbrück, and Herford were a result of an attack by the LockBit program. The attack occurred in the early morning of Saturday, December 24, severely impacting the systems critical to the operations of these medical institutions.
According to the hospitals’ statement, unidentified individuals gained unauthorized access to their IT infrastructure and encrypted the data. Preliminary analysis indicates that the cyber attack employed the LockBit 3.0 program. The duration of the system recovery remains unknown.
As a security measure, all systems were immediately disconnected upon detecting the attack, and relevant authorities and institutions were alerted.
An ongoing investigation is currently underway to determine the full extent of the damage and whether any data has been stolen.
The cyber attack has impacted three hospitals within the KHO network, each playing a crucial role in providing medical services to their respective regions. The consequences of this attack on their IT systems could be potentially grave for individuals in critical conditions.
The KHO statement assures that patient treatment continues as normal despite some technical restrictions. Access to key patient information has been maintained through the restoration of backup copies.
However, ambulance services at these three hospitals are temporarily unavailable, potentially leading to significant delays in emergency medical care.
At the time of writing, the LockBit group has not yet added KHO to its leaked data website on the dark web. Therefore, it remains uncertain whether patient data or other confidential information has been stolen.