Three German hospitals are victims of a ransomware attack. For security reasons, all systems have been shut down. Emergency rooms have been disrupted as a result.
The hospital network Katholische Hospitalvereinigung Ostwestfalen confirmed that sites in Bielefeld, Rheda-Wiedenbrück and Herford suffered the attack on Saturday. The malicious actors managed to gain access to the hospitals’ IT infrastructure and encrypted data. “An initial check showed that it was probably a cyber attack by Lockbit 3.0, the timeline for which is currently not foreseeable,” the KHO said.
When the hospitals discovered the attack, all systems were immediately taken offline. All necessary parties and institutions were also informed of the cyber incident.
Care disrupted
The serious consequence is that emergency care can no longer be provided at the three German hospitals. For emergency care, patients will be directed to other locations. This could potentially cause delays. If an ambulance arrives later at a hospital, the right patient care may also be delayed because it can only take place fully in the hospital.
Other care, such as clinical treatment, can continue. However, doctors, nurses and other staff face some technical restrictions by taking the systems offline. Essential patient information remains available, as the hospital managed to successfully recover with backups.
Currently, the cyber attack is still under investigation. The extent of the damage has not yet been fully assessed. It is also still unclear whether the hackers actually stole data. Although KHO sees indications of a Lockbit 3.0 attack, the hacker group has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack.