Scripps Health's Cyber Outage Caused By ‘Ransomware Attacks': Cal. Dept. of Public Health
Eric S. Page
Scripps Mercy Hospital
On Friday, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) described the ongoing situation at Scripps Heath as a case of "ransomware attacks."
Ransomware typically works by introducing software that encrypts a user's data and holds the decryption key until the ransom is paid. Once that happens, a typical recourse is to reformat and restore the system from backups, a SDSU cyber warfare and cyber terrorism expert Steven Andrés told NBC in 2018
The local health-care provider, which operates five hospitals in San Diego, along with a series of clinics, was hit by a cyberattack over the weekend. Patients and staffers have been unable to access records, email and other technology for six days.