Hospital tells patients to monitor bank statements after malware infection

A hospital in New Mexico told its patients to monitor their credit reports after malware was discovered on one of the servers. Roosevelt General Hospital in Portales, New Mexico informed its patients to monitor their credit reports after the healthcare unit discovered malware on a digital imaging server. The malware infection was spread across radiology that contained patient information.

Although it was not clear whether any patient data was compromised in the hack, the hospital has issued an alert to potentially affected patients and offering assistance in monitoring their information, according to the local news publication.

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The affected server contained information such as names, addresses, date of birth, driver’s licenses numbers, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, insurance information, medical information and gender, the hospital said in its advisory. Advising patients who receive a notice to monitor their credit reports, the hospital's PR and Marketing Director Jeanette Orrantia, had this to say:

"With security events such as this one, time was taken to thoroughly investigate what occurred and identify individuals who have been affected. Since then, the server has been secured and patient information has been restored. Health and Human Services was notified within the 60-day reporting timeframe," said Orrantia.

The hospital CEO Kaye Green added, "Although we are continuing our investigation, there is no evidence at this time that any patient data has been wrongfully used. The malware identified on the radiology server was contained and terminated immediately upon detection. This breach did not affect our electronic health record system or billing system."

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Hospitals need to step up their cybersecurity approach and defend themselves against cyberattacks for the safety of their patients. A new study finds a direct link between the lack of cybersecurity measures at hospitals resulting in data breaches and ransomware incidents and an increase in the number of heart patients losing their lives.

A new research warns hospitals facing data breaches or ransomware attacks can expect a sudden spike in the number of heart patients dying as the result of cybersecurity threat remediation. The rate at which cyber-attacks are spreading is at an all-time high. In 2020, these attacks and solutions to prevent those attacks are going to get even more sophisticated, researchers warn in the recent study.