San Diego-The Chief Executive Officer of the Health System said in a letter on Monday that the interruption of Scripps Health’s services for more than four weeks was the result of a ransomware attack.

Chris Van Gorder, President and CEO of Scripps, apologizes to patients, employees and doctors for the frustration caused by the attack Was originally detected on May 1st. For protection, San Diego’s non-profit system took most of its network offline to protect patients, and rescheduled appointments for patients and doctors. Uncertainty of employees.

Some functions, including Scripps.org, have been restored, but Van Gorder said the system expects electronic medical records to be made available to patients later this week.

He said: “Although this progress is meaningful, there is still work to be done.” “We look forward to the restoration of the remaining Scripps system as soon as possible based on these efforts.”

According to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, ransomware is Evolving types of malware Among them, “make any files and the systems that rely on them unusable.” The people behind the attacks usually demand a ransom before access can be restored, but such attacks may cause the government, the healthcare system, and almost everyone who has access to the Internet. Serious destruction.

Van Gorder acknowledged that the system provides almost no updates on cyber attacks because sharing more detailed information “increases the risk of further attacks on Scripps.”

He said the attack had been reported to federal law enforcement officials.

He wrote in the letter: “This is not an assumption.” “Other attackers are already using media reports to send scam communications to our organization. I know that for some people, we didn’t provide reasons for more frequent updates. It may not matter.

“But for me, it is important to share and assure you that the safety and security of our patients, employees and doctors are our consistent guidelines.”

It is not clear whether hackers can get rid of the personal information of Scripps patients.

Any patient with questions about a cyber attack is asked to call 1-800-SCRIPPS.

A letter to Scripps Health patients

Dear Scripps patient,

I want to provide you with the latest information about Scripps’ ongoing response to our recent cyber incidents. We know that the past few weeks have been difficult for our community members, and sometimes it seems that we are not communicating enough. We are very concerned about our relationship with you and all of our patients, and we are sorry that this has caused frustration.

Under the current circumstances, publicly sharing the details of the work we are doing will put Scripps at risk of further attacks, and it will not be possible for you to safely restore our system as soon as possible. This is not an assumption. Other attackers are already using content reported in the media to send fraudulent communications to our organization. I know that for some people, the reason why we did not provide more frequent updates may not matter. However, for me, it is very important to share and assure you that the safety and security of our patients, employees and doctors are our constant principles.

That being said, we can now share some other updates. We are continuing to investigate the incident and I can confirm that it involves ransomware. We have reported this to federal law enforcement and continue to support their investigation. Our IT team and external consultants work almost 24/7 to restore our systems. Please rest assured that we have complete backups and are using them to help us with the recovery work. Even so, there is no “easy button”.

We continue to make progress. When you are taking care, your electronic medical record will be electronically at your fingertips again, and our service capabilities in the internal call center have been improved to help answer patient questions. In addition, we expect that our electronic health records will be back online in the second half of this week, including your ability to log in to your MyScripps account to view your health care information. Although this progress is meaningful, there is still work to be done. We look forward to restoring the remaining Scripps system as soon as possible based on these efforts.

At the same time, as always, providing you with excellent medical care is our top priority, so please feel free to serve the care you need.

We know that this incident is a difficult time for our patients, our employees and our doctors, and we apologize.

Thank you again for your patience and understanding at this challenging time. We are committed to continuing to serve you and our community, and will continue to provide you with updates.

Thank you,

Chris Van Gorder
President and Chief Executive Officer
Scripps Health