A ransomware attack, suspected to be the Ryuk ransomware operators, has shut down Universal Health Services (UHS) and several hospitals. UHS is a Fortune-500 owner of a nationwide network of hospitals offering a variety of services to their patients. The attack occurred on Monday, according to reports from employees on social networking platforms. A large Reddit thread also exposed the attack, with hundreds of comments from hospital personnel confirming that UHS’s services were down.
There have also been reports of nurses and employees being forced to write everything down on paper forms, rather than storing information on a computer, as well as losing access to radiology studies, EKGs, and anything else computer-based. Employees were allegedly told to turn off all computers and refrain from rebooting them for several days. UHS released an official statement on Monday, stating that their facilities are offline due to an IT security issue. The hospital network claimes that they have begun IT security protocols and are trying to restore operations.
Read More: Universal Health Services Ransomware Attack Impacts Hospitals Nationwide