A new cyberattack like WannaCry spread from Europe to the U.S., and a Pennsylvania healthcare system appears to be a victim.
More than 80 companies in Russia and Ukraine were initially affected by the Petya virus that disabled computers Tuesday, demanding $300 in cryptocurrency to unlock each device, Moscow-based cybersecurity company Group-IB told Bloomberg News. About 2,000 users have been attacked so far, per Kaspersky Lab analysts, with organizations in Russia and the Ukraine the most affected.
In the U.S. Heritage Valley Health System announced Friday that, except for its satellite-based laboratory and diagnostic imaging services, all its facilities are open again after a global cyberattack affected its computer systems and network on Tuesday.
Heritage Valley, an integrated delivery network with annual revenue of about $500 million providing healthcare services for Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania; eastern Ohio; and the panhandle of West Virginia, reported Tuesday it was the victim of what appeared to be a Petya virus attack.
“Heritage Valley Health System was impacted by a cyber security incident the morning of June 27 and this incident has been identified as the same ransomware attack that affected several organizations globally,” Heritage Valley says in a statement. “Corrective measures supplied by our antivirus software vendor have been developed and are being implemented and tested within the health system.”
Heritage Valley didn’t release many details such as the type of information under attack or if it paid a ransom. But the healthcare system did shut down several key computer systems and databases. “Heritage Valley continues to implement downtime procedures and make operational adjustments to ensure safe patient care,” according to the health system.
The attack impacted registration, clinical patient and ancillary care systems, Heritage Valley says, resulting in laboratory and diagnostic services being unavailable for patients.
Full service across the health system was available again on Friday and Heritage Valley told patients “Our investigation is ongoing and we are diligently working to determine whether the incident involved any access to confidential information.”
Heritage Valley says no electronic medical records have been breached. “Now we have found no evidence that information has been accessed, but our investigation continues,” Heritage Valley says.
Heritage Valley operates 60 physician offices and 18 community satellite facilities. So far Heritage Valley is the first publicly announced U.S. healthcare organization impacted by Petya virus attack, but drug maker Merck & Co. tweeted that some of its computer systems were attacked and noted the company was investigating with details to follow.
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