DeKalb Health in Indiana Hit with Ransomware Attack

Yet another healthcare organization, DeKalb Health, in Auburn, Ind., has been hit with a ransomware attack on its IT systems, according to various local media reports in the area.

According to a Fort Wayne, Ind. NewsChannel 15 report, viewers of the TV station informed the outlet that DeKalb Health fell victim to a ransomware attack. After visiting the organization, the news station confirmed that “DeKalb Health recently experienced a temporary disruption in the operation of its administrative computer system due to ransomware,” according to a statement from the hospital CEO, Craig Polkow, per the news report.

The statement continued, “In order to best serve and protect our patients, we immediately implemented our standard down time operating procedures designed to ensure the best possible patient care. In select cases last week, patients were transferred to another hospital and EMS was rerouted to another facility to ensure all of the patients’ medical needs could be met. All patients received excellent care and the highest-caliber treatment.

Polkow added, “I am pleased to say many of our administrative systems are already back online. I am immensely proud of our entire staff. We anticipate administrative computer disruptions among other scenarios as part of our normal training and everyone did their jobs wonderfully.” Polkow noted that an investigation is ongoing with the help of a third party forensics team.

In recent weeks, Healthcare Informatics has tackled the increasingly troubling ransomware trend in healthcare from several different angles. In Part one of a two-part story, industry experts speak out on the crisis; in Part two, experts offer practical advice on how to address the ransomware threat right now.  What’s more, HCI takes a look at ransomware from a multi-industry perspective in a recent interview with Ron Schlecht, founder and CEO of the BTB Security consulting firm.