Cass Regional Medical Center brought its EHR (electronic health record) back online July 16 for the first time since a July 9 ransomware attack on the organization’s information technology infrastructure prompted a precautionary shut down of the EHR.
“After consulting with our EHR vendor, we determined that any immediate threat that may have been present as a result of last week’s attack was mitigated, and that it was in the best interest of our patients to go ahead and bring the system back up,” said Chris Lang, CEO.
Now that use of the EHR has resumed, Cass Regional is no longer on ambulance diversion for trauma and stroke patients.
A third-party cyber forensic firm has nearly completed its investigation into the attack. Evidence gathered by the firm indicates that the system breach was caused by a brute-force attack via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).
“RDP is a widely-used interface that allows remote access to systems for legitimate business purposes,” Lang said. “Unfortunately, the attackers were able to exploit this feature and gain access. We have since modified our systems to eliminate this risk.”
“Again, we deeply appreciate the support that our community has given us this past week,” Lang added. “We are glad to resume normal operations and focus all our energies on taking care of our patients.”
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