NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A affected person has filed a large class motion lawsuit in opposition to Ascension St. Thomas Hospital.
The lawsuit alleges that non-public data, together with dates of beginning, Social Security numbers and medical insurance numbers, was illegally obtained via the hack.
The plaintiffs allege that the hospital “did not take acceptable measures to guard the non-public data” of sufferers.
State legislation to guard organizations affected by cyberattacks from class motion lawsuits following Ascension Health hack
Earlier this month, Ascension Hospital suffered a cybersecurity assault that pressured workers to function below downtime procedures that had been put in place, with all the pieces being tracked manually.
As Ascension Hospital sufferers proceed to hunt remedy, a retired FBI particular agent advised News 2 there are issues present sufferers can do to guard their data.
“When unhealthy guys steal your stuff, the police aren’t going to return in with a magic wand and get your stuff again, your cash, your papers,” former FBI particular agent Scott Augenbaum advised me. “It’s actually, actually exhausting to place unhealthy guys in jail, as a result of they’re abroad.”
Augenbaum defined that when he heard concerning the Ascension ransomware, he wasn’t shocked.
“The downside in healthcare is that cybercriminals proceed to focus on healthcare, and healthcare views cybersecurity as a value quite than an funding,” Augenbaum mentioned.
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Augenbaum advised News 2 that whereas he labored within the FBI’s Cybercrimes Unit, he commonly handled cybersecurity hacks and ransomware within the healthcare sector.
“All of those techniques should be patched,” Augenbaum mentioned. “They want the most recent expertise updates. Oftentimes, organizations do not know the place their data is. It’s in all places. It’s within the cloud, which makes it very troublesome. Cybercriminals can discover vulnerabilities in techniques and exploit them.”
He added {that a} important proportion of hacking entry factors are often preventable.
“Almost 90 % of the problems I’ve handled might have been simply prevented if finish customers had what I name a cybersecurity mindset,” Augenbaum says. “It’s not nearly spending cash; it is about making cybersecurity a part of your organizational tradition and your private tradition at residence.”
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Augenbaum encourages sufferers nonetheless below Ascension’s care to freeze their credit score bureaus, suppose earlier than you click on, have a wide range of passwords and use two-factor authentication.
“When Blue Cross Blue Shield had hackers steal all my data, I had no selection,” Augenbaum explains. “What do I do? Do I swap to a different well being plan? Unfortunately, we’re all on the mercy of our healthcare organizations, they usually have to reply.”
Ascension Hospital’s final launch was final Tuesday, which learn partly, “Ascension Hospital is working with industry-leading cybersecurity specialists to research the current ransomware assault and proceed to securely rebuild and restore our techniques.”