After a grueling month since a cyberattack hobbled its systems, Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago is on the mend with most services back and running. The reputed pediatric center confirmed this week that its doctors and nurses have regained access to electronic medical records and the phone system is fully operational. However, the MyChart patient portal remains inaccessible as teams work tirelessly to get the last of its online functions up and running.
Following the initial breach detected on January 31, which took down critical systems including phone and email, the hospital has responded with a measured and deliberate restoration process. In the midst of the outage, hospital officials announced, as reported by the Chicago Tribune, "a known criminal threat actor" was to blame. This figure, known as Rhysida, is on the FBI's radar and has been a plague to U.S. hospitals with its ransomware operations. While Lurie's spokespeople haven't confirmed the nature of the attack, reminiscent hallmarks of a ransomware campaign have been all too apparent.
The FBI's involvement signals the seriousness of the threat, as online assailants increasingly view medical institutions as lucrative targets. Despite the challenges, Lurie Children's, which catered to approximately 260,000 patients last year, established a dedicated call center to handle patient inquiries, a stopgap illustrating their commitment to patient care even when faced with the digital equivalent of an epidemic.
"Our teams continue working around the clock to reactivate all remaining systems, including MyChart, as quickly as possible,” the hospital asserted in a statement obtained by WTTW News. They stressed that as "an academic medical center, our systems are highly complex and, as a result, the restoration process takes time." With this steady and meticulous approach, they aim to ensure the system's integrity and security before reintroducing its full capabilities.
Contributing to the narrative, hospital spokesperson Julianne Bardele said on Tuesday, "We are aware of claims by individuals claiming to be Rhysida, a known threat actor," in a comment provided to the Chicago Tribune. With the investigation "ongoing and active," the hospital continues to lean on the expertise of law enforcement and security specialists to navigate the fallout of this digital siege and to forestall any such future invasions.
